The Fight For Soul Society
by fuujintoraijin
Summary: The fight is raging on Earth, but Seireitei is preparing to defend itself in case of invasion, led by Ise Nanao. To come into her own as a leader, though, she needs to take control of her own powers. Sequel to "Preparations."
1. Chapter 1

**None of the characters are mine, but they ****sure ****are fun to play with :o)**

**I got tired of waiting for the current manga plot to move on, so I decided to do something about it and write my own fic focused on Nanao (Shunsui will come in later on). This is a sequel to the story I wrote about Nanao and Shunsui a few months back. I don't think too much from that story will come into this one, but I will be referring to things that happened from time to time. I'll try to give context so it's not necessary to have read the other one. I might also bring in some characters introduced in the previous story (like Shunsui's older brother Yoshitsune or his nurse Baba).**

**Please pass along ideas and suggestions. Thanks :o)**

Chapter 1: Change in Command

Nanao inhaled deeply and placed her hands on the edge of the square table in front of her. She noticed her arms were shaking. If her weight wasn't shifted onto the table ahead of her, her knees would have been too. Life and order were out of sync. She and her captain had barely returned from a clandestine mission to the real world – more to preserve the honor and reputation of the Kyōraku family than to protect Soul Society – and suddenly he was off at war and she, a mere lieutenant, was in charge of Seireitei's protection. How had such a thing occurred? She was not even one of the favored lieutenants, but then most of those were serving alongside their captains on the real world. Jealousy sliced through her but she shook it away. There was no time for that. She recalled her captain's parting words.

_"I'm going to the front lines, but I know you're my backup. If we fail, Aizen's coming for the real Karakura. Yama-ji's designated the eighth division to be the next line of defense. I'll come back and help you as soon as I can, but if I can't you are in command. You will know what to do. There isn't a single arrancar who can match you in wit, intelligence or tactical planning. They're prepared to meet captains, but they're not prepared to meet you. That alone is a serious advantage on our part."_

And this was how she happened to be in the sōtaichō's office, her thin frame the solitary moving object in this massive room. It had been but maybe a half hour ago that the captains had departed, but Nanao felt like weeks had passed. This seemed to be an elaborately detailed dream; for once, she was in charge. She could run Seireitei completely by the book. She could make it a place where order, discipline, hard work and responsible behavior ruled. However, this was hardly the way she wanted it. Now that she had this extreme power, she realized how much she wanted it gone. This was a disaster. While she was certainly well-organized, Ise Nanao was not popular. She lacked the charisma and leadership qualities possessed by captains such as hers. It was next to impossible for someone like her to step forward and announce that she would be leading the diverse thirteen factions. The only word she had ever heard that the eighth was the first line of defense came from Kyōraku-taichō; as far as she knew there was no secret will left behind naming her the temporary leader. What choice was there, though? What other fukutaichōs were left? There were only the fourth, fifth, eleventh and twelfth divisions'. Nanao's inner feminist cried in outrage as she realized only the female vice-captains were left behind; true, one of the thirteenth's co-third chairs was male and he was left behind as well, but this did little to quell her disgruntlement. Although, as she considered this fact, she realized that it helped her claim to leadership. While others like the ninth's Hisagi-kun were more respected and admired by the divisions, he was otherwise occupied. Of those who remained, Nanao had the most steel and determination. She was also the scariest. A mere shift of her glasses could subdue the toughest of bullies. She smiled to herself. It wasn't always a bad thing to be known as inflexible and daunting. She needed that reputation to pull off what she needed to do.

She breathed deeply again and pulled herself together. She could do this. She had to. Her captain was counting on her. Her stomach suddenly flopped as she thought of another thing he had said to her before he left:

_"You better be ready for a long heart to heart when I return, Nanao-chan."_

She shook her head. That was the last thing she needed to think about. She needed to focus, and focus was impossible if she allowed Kyōraku to invade her thoughts. Their relationship was still somewhat indeterminate, although in the past couple days it had been set on a rather firm trajectory. This was not the time for girlish fancies, though. Nanao had a job to do, and there was no one better at forcing someone to do one's job than Nanao herself. She tightened her lip and stood up straight. Below her lay a detailed model of Seireitei and its surrounding neighborhoods. She needed to plan. Just then there was a knock on the door.

"Enter," she called out. The remaining vice captains and the two third seats from thirteen came into the large room. Nanao paused and took a few breaths before pushing her glasses up and turning to face them all.

"Good. Thank you for coming. Kyōraku-taichō informed me before he left that Yamamoto-Genryūsai appointed the eighth division as the primary defensive force for Seireitei should the battle on Earth move to here. I have not heard official word confirming that report, but I am willing to temporarily take control and devise various strategies until the captains return. That is, if you all agree and will help me do so."

The assembled officers glanced at each other.

"We all sort of assumed it would be you, Ise-kun," Kotetsu Isane, the fourth division's vice-captain, stated slowly.

Nanao started in surprise, swallowed and readjusted her glasses. Perhaps she was more respected than she'd thought.

"Yeah! With four eyes, big bossy lady in charge, we can do whatever we want!" Cried the pink-headed vice-captain of the twelfth. "And since I'm head of the women's association and we're all women except for Mr. Grumpy Brow, I dictate we all have a big slumber party!"

"Ha! Mr. Grumpy Brow! I told you you had a monkey head!" Kotetsu Kiyone, one of the two co-third chairs from the thirteenth division, eagerly hissed at her compatriot.

"Clean your ears, you freaking booger! A grumpy brow is nothing like a monkey head!" Kotsubaki Sentarō shouted in her face. He quickly turned and pushed Kiyone out of the way to address Nanao. "I humbly apologize for this display, Ise-fukutaichō! I promise from the depths of my being that you shall have nothing but the utmost display of loyalty, dedication and hard work from me from this point forward!"

"Grr, Kotsubaki! I am twice as loyal and twice as dedicated and three times as hard working! Ise-fukutaichō, _I_ apologize for this monkey-headed booger's immaturity and for my own speaking out of turn! _I_ will serve you more responsively and respectfully and far more maturely than this bozo!"

Kotsubaki was pushing against his colleague and seemed ready to retort again, but Nanao silenced them both with a simple, "Good, I'm glad we have that settled."

She turned to the others. "If there are no objections, I will begin with the labor divisions. Kurotsuchi-kun," she said, addressing Nemu, "I would appreciate your analytical input. The twelfth will likely be of some importance in fortifying our defenses, though, so I will need you to divide your time between the twelfth's laboratories and being here for counsel."

Nemu nodded slightly. "I will do my best to be of assistance," she responded quietly.

"Kotetsu-san," she turned to Isane, "if the battle on the real world does fail, your attention will understandably be focused on the wounded. Therefore, I will not give you further duties at this time. Keep me advised of the nature and severity of the wounds, though; that will offer significant insight into our enemies' weapons and abilities. You can communicate with me through hell butterfly or through your sister."

Isane nodded. Nanao turned to the younger, more vocal Kotetsu sister and Kotsubaki, who were still glaring at one another.

"I will be splitting you up. Kotsubaki, you will be in charge of the thirteenth until further notice. Kotetsu Kiyone, you will be my courier. I primarily will ask you to be in the command center to apprise me on our enemy's approach and damages."

Kiyone instantly started protesting over Kotsubaki's fervent thanks and promises of superior leadership. This bickering was the last thing Nanao needed.

"Do you have a problem with my division of responsibility, third seat Kotetsu?" She asked icily, her hand gripping the bridge of her glasses. Kiyone fell silent. "As you can see, we are remarkably few in number and I need every high-ranking officer I can get. Considering that you have both proven rather aptly that you are incapable of working efficiently as a team and, on account of the circumstances, you are more useful to me apart than you are together. Moreover, as I will be giving the orders, Kotsubaki is in charge only so far as to carry out my commands. If this is unacceptable, though, I will find a suitable replacement from one of the other divisions so that you can join your comrades on the front lines. I will also pass along your protest to Ukitake-taichō. I doubt he will look kindly upon your inability to follow orders under such tense circumstances. Is that what you prefer, third seat Kotetsu?"

Kiyone gulped. "No, Ma'am." She was visibly shaken, and Nanao's cool vehemence quieted everyone.

"I am glad to hear it. Do you understand your role, third seat Kotsubaki as well as its limitations?"

He sprang to attention. "Yes, Ise-fukutaichō!" he responded stiffly. Kiyone looked ready to retort, but a fierce look from Nanao stopped her before she could utter a sound.

"Oooh, four eyes, big bossy lady's real scary now!" the twelfth's vice-captain Kusajishi Yachiru declared.

"Kusajishi-san," Nanao started.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Yachiru cried with a finger raised in warning. Nanao sighed. Apparently Yachiru decided the present company still constituted a meeting of the Shinigami Women's Association.

"Madame President," Nanao tried again, "by your leave, someone needs to be in charge of all of the divisions, particularly those who have no present captain or vice-captain. I need you to be aware of the factions at all times and make sure that they are moved into their positions after I have given the order. You will essentially be the field commander. Is that acceptable?"

"Aye-aye!" Yachiru cried merrily.

Nanao turned then to the fifth vice-captain, Hinamori Momo. She was still torn with what to do with Hinamori. She was a major question mark in this campaign. The odds were staked highly against Momo that she would turn sides and join the Arrancar the moment she saw Aizen. Slow progress had been made with her, and doubts seemed to be seeping into the intense affection and admiration she had built up for her former captain. Did he still hold a degree of control over her, though? Could he make her turn and massacre whole legions? How much in control of her own mind was she? Nanao got the feeling that her captain would give Hinamori a chance to prove her own mettle rather than judge her by the sins of her traitorous captain. By her own admission, though, Hinamori's loyalties lay with Aizen. She was extremely dangerous. However, with so few skilled officers to choose from, what choice did Nanao have?

"Hinamori-san," she stated through almost gritted teeth, "please assist Madame President in carrying out commands. If you feel the slightest hesitation or doubt, though, inform me at once and you will be relieved of duty for the rest of battle. Is this something you can do?"

"Yes, Ise-san," Momo said quietly.

"I need a firmer commitment than that," Nanao retorted fiercely. "I need you to be completely on board before I commit the lives of so many people to someone who is unsure of her loyalties. Do I have your loyalty, Hinamori-kun? Does Soul Society?"

Momo straightened her shoulders and lifted her head to look Nanao in the eye. The issue had never been stated so directly to her before, but Nanao had no time to ease around so important an issue. It was the first chance Momo ever had to prove herself, actually.

"You have my loyalty," she said in a firmer tone.

"Good. If not, I leave you to Kusajishi-san to deal with if there is any infraction in what you do or what you say. Is that clear?"

"I understand."

"Good. I appreciate everyone's assistance. I will have my first instructions to you by tonight. Isane-san, please send a general message throughout Seireitei about the current line of command. Only, do not specify who is in what position. The troops are still too divided. They need to be able to take an order from any one of us should Kusajishi-san or Hinamori-san be detained. That will not happen if they expect to only respond to one of those two vice-captains alone."

Isane nodded and knelt to begin her message. Nanao turned back to the Seireitei model before her. The foundation was set. Now, it was all up to her. She needed to plan.


	2. Chapter 2

**Finally, a chance to meet someone I think a lot of us have been curious about! Or, at the very least, it's my opinion of what Nanao's manifested power is. **

Chapter 2: Unwanted Assistance

Nanao brushed a strand of hair off of her sweat-drenched neck as she continued staring at the Seireitei model below her. It was evening now and she had made only cursory work of developing defensive tactics. Soul Society spread out before her, a monstrous maze of neighborhoods surrounding the Shinigami headquarters. The aristocratic mansions lay to the northern end near the imperial palace. Nanao tapped her chin and gazed over the model for the thousandth time. Was it possible to divide thirteen troops over such a widespread area without their most powerful fighters and leaders? No, it was not possible. Sacrifices would have to be made. Which would they be? Did Nanao have to decide now which places to forfeit now or should she until she was in the midst of battle? Should she evacuate those areas, or would it only signal to the Arrancar that those places were uninhabited and therefore unprotected? Would she actually be saving those people in the long run or only shuttling the innocent souls of Rukongai into tighter spaces to be massacred? These were the practicalities Nanao had never before had to face. Life as Kyōraku-taichō's vice-captain, personal assistant, secretary and alarm clock now seemed so trivial and simple. As a mere fukutaichō, her job was relatively straightforward; the more monumental decisions involving life and death were in her captain's hands. Now it was her job, and she had no idea how to do it.

The massiveness of her newly gained responsibility loomed above her. She did not know which direction to take. Brainstorming with Nemu had unfortunately yielded little information. Nemu's analytical mind was best suited to refining ideas, not coming up with entirely new ones. Eventually, Nanao had simply sent her back to the twelfth division's headquarters to await further orders. Now she was on her own and terrified out of her mind.

Nanao bent over the model, feeling sweat trickle down her cheek. She had not been in too many high-pressure situations, and in those cases her captain was always there to protect her. But he was down in the real world now, doing his part to ensure the enemy did not come to where she was. There was a very real possibility that, once again, he would protect Nanao from having to act on her own. Maybe the Arrancar would not make it to Soul Society. Maybe she was stressing over nothing whatsoever. However, she could not allow herself to rely on that potentiality. She had to force herself to overcome this mental block, but she kept waiting to find a 'perfect' solution. Was there some way, _some way_ to protect Seireitei without inflicting casualties?

Nanao laughed bitterly at herself then froze as she heard the sound echoed. There was another laugh, but this was high-pitched and mocking. It did not come from the room around her, but rather from within her very being.

"No," she whispered to herself, but she could not control it. She closed her eyes and felt a surge of power slink away from her. Slowly, she forced herself to open her eyes and push herself upright. She saw a dark form to her right out of the corner of her eye, but Nanao could not quite force herself to turn.

"Oh, honestly, you're ridiculously melodramatic. Would anyone ever believe that the terrifying Ise Nanao is afraid of her own power?"

At this, Nanao turned. "Morrigan," she bit out slowly.

"In the flesh," the newcomer agreed. "Well, after a fashion. And your accent has improved; you almost have the second syllable correct. Not that you've really had the chance to practice, of course. You have kept me hidden away for quite some time. But what will you do now with no one else to confide in?"

Loathing swept over Nanao as she looked on Morrigan. How could this person be the emanation of Nanao's power? Morrigan was petite and nearly emaciated. Her head was small and round with two long, black ponytails hanging down to her knees. Her skin was a ghastly white color and both her dress and her lips were a dark black. Morrigan's eyes alone held color. They were a purplish blue only a few shades darker than Nanao's. The most disturbing part of Morrigan was on her right hand, though. A raven sat perched on her forefinger, her thumb stretched across the thumb to secure its feet. Simply looking at the raven sent shudders through Nanao. It never said anything and never moved from Morrigan's hand. However, its eyes followed Nanao's every movement from behind a white bone mask that appeared disturbingly similar to a Hollow's.

"I can carry on quite well without your assistance," Nanao sneered in reply as she turned away from the smaller woman. Morrigan simply smiled.

"What was it you were thinking about the little lovesick one? Wasn't it that even though she will likely prove to be a traitor, you have no option but to use her? Couldn't the same principle apply to me?"

"I don't want anything to do with you."

"It surprises me how intelligent people seem to think you are," Morrigan stated harshly. "You have everything to do with me, and I have everything to do with you. Do you think I will go away if you simply don't use your zampakutō? Do you think you are really pulling upon your own abilities by relying so much on kidō? Your power is my power. They are not singular entities. Without me you have nothing. It is time you accept the fact and move forward."

"I do not have time for this argument!" Nanao responded firmly, her voice betraying only the slightest crack.

"I agree, but it is one you should have had long ago. I can only remain as I am for so long, Nanao. I am not simply some tool to turn on when you have no other recourse. Call me forth now," Morrigan cooed. "Let me be of use to you. Merge our powers together and achieve the pinnacle of what we can do together. Who better to discuss ideas and strategies with than your own power manifested before you?" Morrigan's voice was low and lulling. Nanao struggled to keep from falling under its power.

"I do not trust you," she finally replied. Morrigan frowned and began to back away.

"Then that is to say you do not trust yourself. You cannot accomplish what you intend without me. It is time for us to work in harmony. It is time to achieve bankai."

"Just go," Nanao breathed heavily. Morrigan vanished. Nanao took a few deep breaths and then called forth a hell butterfly to summon Nemu.

"I have identified three main locations that we will need to focus the divisions on: the imperial palace, Karakura and Seireitei."

Nemu nodded. "And Rukongai?"

Nanao swallowed hard. "Rukongai… will have to act as a buffer. We do not have the manpower to defend all of Soul Society. These are the three primary places that _must_ be defended at all costs." She glanced warily at Nemu, waiting to see if she would disagree, but she merely nodded. "Unless you can think of an alternative?" she prompted.

"No," Nemu responded simply. "Sacrifices must be made."

"But surely there must be another option, feasible or not! Entire neighborhoods and towns of people cannot be thrown to the wolves simply because I cannot think of any other option!"

"It is the most rational and reasonable solution," Nemu pointed out. "You are correct. We do not have the manpower to protect them. Therefore, using them to slow down the Arrancar invasion is a good defensive strategy, particularly if they will be dead anyway."

Nanao closed her eyes and slammed a fist on the edge of the model. While Nemu was her own person, there was certainly enough of Kurotsuchi-taichō's cold, ruthless pragmaticism in the girl.

_"Use your resources!"_ A voice within Nanao hissed. Apparently Morrigan had not gone far away. At this point, Nanao had no other choice. Nemu was no more helpful now than she had been before.

"Thank you, Nemu," she said with a sigh. "I will give you my formal orders within the hour."

Nemu simply nodded and flashed away. Nanao let her guard down and watched as Morrigan appeared before her.

"I told you to go away."

"And I did. For a while. But don't assume that this means you have actual control over me," Morrigan said with a cold smile.

"You keep insinuating you have valuable insight for me. Well, this is your chance. What are your suggestions?"

"Well, since you've asked for my opinion so nicely… have you thought about the fact that using Rukongai as your front line is only going to increase the disgruntlement and dissatisfaction in those areas, which could lead to a full on revolt even if you should happen to overturn an Arrancar invasion? Which, if you take into consideration that you will probably not defeat Aizen this time around, means you could be fighting a war on two fronts, one of them in your own backyard?"

Nanao felt a cold wave of horror wash over her.

"Your plan as it stands will only serve to confirm the opinion of so many souls in Rukongai that the Shinigami just don't care about them," Morrigan continued with a small, smug smile.

"It's not that we don't care about them," Nanao replied in a heavy voice as she supported her forehead on her hand, "it is simply that there are more important places that need to be preserved."

"While I'm sure there are some who would disagree, I do concede your point with the palace and Karakura. You will have a hard time convincing the majority of the inhabitants of Rukongai that Seireitei is more importance than their homes are."

"It's our command center! There is a great deal of power and technology here, without which the Shinigami simply cannot prevail against the Arrancar attack!"

"Agreed, but no one aside from the Shinigami themselves will see it that way," Morrigan pointed out. "You have to provide a measure of protection for the people around you."

"I would love to, but I don't know how. What would you suggest?"

"Use your resources."

"I thought you were referring to yourself."

Morrigan simply smiled at her. "I _am_ an important resource, and you would do well not to ignore me in the future. I will give you the counterarguments no one else has been able to give you so far. I know you inside and out, and while that might be part of the reason you despise me so, you need me. But no, I was not referring to myself alone. Think, woman, the Shinigami are not the only trained fighters in Soul Society."

Nanao's brow furrowed. "The imperial guard?"

"Yes, they count. They may be helpful. Who else?"

"The second division."

"Agreed. They will be very useful. And?"

"The personal guard for the noble families."

"Leave them be. Most of them are dreadful fighters, and taking them from the noble families will only insight panic among them all. You don't have the time to deal with whiny aristocrats. Think of Rukongai."

"Trained fighters in Rukongai? You mean like thugs and bandits?"

Morrigan's knowing smile spread slowly across her face. "Precisely."

"You must be joking; we spend most of our time fighting now, and now you want me to enlist them?"

"Not enlist, exactly, just inform. They are not without a point, you know – Seireitei tells them nothing. You can at least give them the opportunity to defend themselves."

"Or take advantage of the Arrancar invasion and pillage and loot entire neighborhoods."

"That is a possibility, but not very different from the everyday life some of the outer districts face anyway. You're giving them a chance now. Assign one person you trust to arrange militia groups among the different wards."

"I don't trust anyone enough for that. The people I could see appealing to the inhabitants of Rukongai are all in the real world right now! Who else could I assign that the people would trust?"

"Perhaps you should do it yourself," Morrigan suggested. "You are, after all, from Rukongai yourself."

Nanao glared at her. "_Barely_. My father and I lived in one of the higher numbered districts. And I entered the Shinigami Academy soon after arriving, and my father died not long after that. My ties to Rukongai are nearly nonexistent. Besides, I am occupied here."

"Then you have no other choice – it will have to be Yachiru."

"_Yachiru_?"

"Think about it," Morrigan snapped. "She is from the worst parts of Rukongai. She is still one of them. However, there is nothing in her demeanor to betray her origins. She can appeal to the weaker, more civilized districts as well as command the cutthroats from the peripheries."

"But that leaves Hinamori to command the divisions! She could destroy everything!"

Morrigan paused before responding. "Can you switch her with the loud-mouthed girl and make her your courier?"

"No. Kotetsu Kiyone is only a third seat. Not only does she not have the appropriate rank, she has no experience acting independently. I do not know if I could trust her to keep her head together in the heat of battle."

"Whereas with Hinamori, she can perform capably _if_ she has her loyalties figured out."

"Which is highly doubtable," Nanao sighed. There was a long pause.

"What other choice do you have?"

"You're right. About everything," Nanao conceded.

"Morrigan smiled smugly again. "I told you not to ignore me."

Nanao turned and sent hell butterflies to the fifth and twelfth divisions' vice-captains. This was an extremely risky plan, but Morrigan was correct. There was no other choice.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the delay; I like to get these things up within a day or so, but sometimes it takes a little while to finish. I'll start working on the fourth chapter and will hopefully have it up soon. Basically, I want to have this done before something actually starts happening in the manga that could seriously conflict with what's written here (that will happen anyway, but it's nice to at least not have to worry about trying to make it all fit, which I like to do if I can). Please tell me what you think - I like hearing feedback and suggestions :o). Thanks!  
**

Chapter 3: It Begins

Nanao woke to find Morrigan sitting and watching her. The raven too sat unblinking and staring at her. Nanao shivered and turned her away. She was more than ready for Morrigan to get a new pet – even another bird that would at least leave her hand from time to time would be preferable. What really struck her was the frequency with which Morrigan was appearing. Three visits within a day was unheard of.

"What do you want now?" she asked with a yawn.

"You're finally doing something interesting in your dull little existence and I want to be around for as much of it as I can," Morrigan said with a shrug. "Once the geezer is back in command, you'll return to the library or your books or pretending you're not in love with your commanding officer. Most of the time you're dreadfully dull to be around, you know."

Nanao glared in response. "Get out of here. As you can see, I'm sleeping – not exactly the pinnacle of excitement."

"Well now that you're awake, let's talk strategy."

Nanao threw her head back on her pillow. "What is to discuss? I took your advice and readjusted the vice-captains. Rukongai has been alerted. Miniature militias are assembling. They know Kusajishi-san will aid them, but they are also on their own. I told Nemu to help establish security measures for them while there is still time. That is as much as can be done. I had a very serious discussion with Hinamori-san. She understands the extreme amount of trust I am placing in her and how severe her betrayal would be. I am almost finished splitting the divisions to cover the primary three locations and am devising backup schemes. I have communicated with both the head of the special forces and the imperial guard. They are aware of the situation and are prepared to hear from me with further orders. What further strategy can I come up with at this time?"

Morrigan looked pityingly at her. "Well you had better find out soon, because you are running out of time."

Nanao's brow furrowed as she sat up. "What do you mean?" she asked harshly.

"The first pillar has fallen. Karakura will soon start to return to the real world. If that does occur, the Arrancar will soon arrive to attack the palace. If the captains manage to keep the pillars on Earth intact, the Arrancar may still come to claim the town."

Nanao's eyes narrowed. "How do you know this? The command center is under strict orders to inform me the moment anything occurs. How could you know anything before I do?"

"That is something you will have to uncover for yourself."

Nanao stood angrily. "No, you will tell me now. If the first pillar has collapsed as you say, how do you know this?"

Morrigan simply looked at her with a strange sadness in her eyes. From the bird's direction Nanao felt a piercing stare. It was like the raven was summing her up and evoking its presence onto her at the same time. It was oppressive. What was the bird? For the first time, Nanao entertained the thought that the raven might be more than simply her zampakutō's pet. What, though, she did not know. The only idea that came to mind was an unpleasant one, and Nanao quickly banished it from mind. She felt the pressure from the bird elevate. As her breathing returned to normal, Nanao noticed a hell butterfly daintily float through the open window. She looked from Morrigan to the butterfly and back again.

"Is this what I think it is, then?"

"Probably."

Nanao held her hand out. The butterfly alighted and imparted its message. The first pillar had fallen. The eleventh division's third seat Madarame Ikkaku was unaccounted for.

"How did you know that?" she asked Morrigan accusatorily.

"I can't tell you, but you need to find out."

"Can you see the future?"

"No."

"Then what is it? You should not be able to go very far from my side. How did you go to the real world?"

"I did not."

"Then how? Some sort of 'hyper-vision?'"

"That is one way to describe it," Morrigan acquiesced. "And to gain it, you need to stop fighting me. I am doing you a favor, Nanao. We should not be diametrically opposed as we are now. I am willing to overlook how often you have ignored and cast me away. However, you need to really see me for who I actually am before we reach bankai together. You are running out of time. You need me."

"I see you exactly as you are," Nanao scoffed. She stood and started dressing herself. "I do not have the time to play your games right now."

"You will have far less later on."

"I will take care of it when Kyōraku-taichō has returned. I should have his advice and oversight before attempting bankai," Nanao protested distractedly.

"No. Do it before he returns. You will be distracted otherwise. Do it now."

"You're a distraction yourself. Right now I am going to the command center. We can continue this later."

"Of course we can, because you had better believe that I will keep appearing." Morrigan stated smoothly. "I will be over your shoulder every moment until you finally stop running away from me."

Nanao snapped her head around and glared at Morrigan. "You are not in charge here!"

"Neither are you," the manifested zampakutō said meaningfully. Nanao's eyebrows knitted together. She thought she almost detected a deeper layer of meaning, but Morrigan admitted nothing further.

"Do whatever you want," she told Morrigan and then left for the command center. Nanao hated it when things did not make sense, and right now nothing made sense. The fact that one of the pillars had already fallen when the best of Seireitei was fighting unsettled her. What resistance could she possibly pull together if the group in the real world failed? Despite her preparations, Nanao had never really believed that war would actually reach the white stone walls of the Shinigami home. As she scurried along the veranda through the still-dark night, she wondered just what the situation was with the captains and vice-captains in the real world. If they failed, would that mean they were dead? No… hopefully it would only mean that they would fall back to help secure and defend Soul Society. There was no Soul Society without all of them; Nanao's forces could only delay the inevitable without them. Her throat caught as she thought of them all. They would be all right. There was no other feasible option. And, if they weren't… well, chances were that she would not have long to live without them.

"What is the situation?" she asked sharply as she walked into the command center.

"We are still waiting for updates, Ise-fukutaichō," stuttered Tsubokura Rin, a nervous young man with a shock of hair standing straight on his head.

"How are the other pillars?"

"Undetermined."

"And Karakura?"

"Um… it is beginning to return to the real world." He looked up at Nanao with wide eyes. "What should we do, Ise-fukutaichō?"

Another scientist leaned in over the view the monitor and then turned to strike a few keys by another viewing screen.

"The town and remaining pillars are still relatively secure. Ah, we just received an update: Madarame is accounted for and the town's return to the real world has been halted. However, the measures taken are weak and temporary at best. The pillar removed was an important one, unfortunately. We need to increase the fortifications up here to support what has been done in the real world."

"How long would fortifications take, um… Akon, isn't it?"

He nodded. "Given the way the battle is progressing we may have less than forty-eight hours. It will be rough, but we should be able to keep the town here."

Nanao paused and thought for a moment. "Forty-eight hours, you say? Let's assume it's twenty-four. See what you can get done in that time. Tell me when you have finished. Meanwhile," she turned to the bulbous-headed chief of the research division, "Hiyosu, what you have done for fortifying Rukongai?"

"Kusajishi-fukutaichō came to me yesterday with some, um, requests. Her methods are a little, well, unorthodox, let's say."

Kyōraku's words echoed through Nanao's head:_ "They're prepared to meet captains, but they're not prepared to meet you. That alone is a serious advantage on our part."_

"Unorthodox may be good. It's unexpected. I trust her judgment, follow her instructions to the letter."

Everyone nodded in assent and Nanao left to go to the first division with Morrigan nowhere in sight. She was more than a little wary of allowing Yachiru to have free reign over Rukongai's defenses; "unorthodox" in Yachiru's case likely meant Jacks-in-the-box and taffy tar pits. However, if it caused the enemy even a moment of bewilderment, that was a moment they desperately needed. Besides which, around this time the day before Nanao was resigned to sacrificing Rukongai to save Seireitei, the palace and Karakura. Now the inhabitants had a fighting chance, at least.

A storm broke out as soon as Nanao reached the first division. She watched lightning lace the sky as she pondered over the Soul Society model. There were thirteen divisions, each with different specializations. The fourth would be busy ferrying the wounded, so that left twelve for her to divide among the vulnerable locations. Twelve's research division was busy coming up with contraptions to help defend Rukongai, so she would send them to help Yachiru. They would then fall back to reevaluate their casualties and possibly be reassigned to another location. The eleventh she would send to defend Karakura Town. They were too antsy and hotheaded to hold back and wait for orders. Despite their strength and penchant for fighting, they were unwieldy at best. It was better to have them out of the way as soon as possible. The third and seventh were effective fighters and disciplined enough to follow orders and attack patterns; they would accompany the eleventh to defend Karakura. The thirteenth and the eighth were used to training alongside one another, so she would keep them back to defend Seireitei. They would also be the last line of defense. She would also hold the fifth back to protect Seireitei, but that was more from self-preservation than attack strategy. Karakura and the imperial palace were both vital to Aizen's plans. No one, not even the fifth themselves, knew how far Aizen's mind control had gone. It was entirely possible that in the midst of battle, he could somehow make them turn against their own comrades. Seireitei would likely be the last battle setting, and therefore Nanao would keep them out of the fight for as long as possible.

The second and the special corps with the first and ninth divisions would help the imperial guard defend the castle. The sixth and tenth would wait on reserve to go where they were needed. She ticked them off on her fingers. She'd assigned all the divisions, but considering only the fourth would be serving under its own commanding officer, this was as much a test in her ability to command factions not used to taking orders from anyone outside their own groups as it was in the Shinigami's fighting ability and strength. Doubts clouded her mind; was this too expected? Was this what Aizen would have assumed she would do? Surely by now he must have come to the conclusion that she would have been left in charge. Nanao's strategies followed logic, which made her predictable. Should she reappoint someone else to be in charge? Should she switch the division appointments around? Would it make any difference? For the first time in her life, she cursed her analytical mindset. What she lacked was craftiness and duplicity. She could not possibly match Aizen in those respects, so she would simply have to arrange the situation to utilize her intellect as best as she could. That gave her an idea.

Nanao shunpōed to the eighth division's headquarters and drew a wooden box out of her desk drawer. She was about to return when she stopped and looked at the piano set against the opposite wall. Her captain had given it to her upon learning that in her former life she had been something of a child prodigy. She had run her fingers over the ivories a few times, but had not yet ever played for him, despite how often he'd ever asked. She wondered if she ever would. She cleared the thought from her head and returned to the first division. There was a job to do. Still, the piano and the box in her hand only given her more ideas. Yamamoto had taken the best fighters with him, but he left Nanao the best kidō masters. She had thought of a way to use that to her advantage.


	4. Chapter 4

**A short chapter (actually, they've all been pretty short so far). Don't worry, more things will start happening soon! This is all lead-up.**

**Thanks for the feedback! I'll answer questions about Morrigan (mainly, my inspiration and where I got the idea for her) at the end of the story, so as not to give anything away.**

**Edit: Whoops! I accidentally uploaded an incomplete file. It doesn't seem like too many people saw that - sorry for any confusion.**

Chapter 4: A New Strategy

Nanao set the box she'd recovered from her office on top of Yamamoto-Genrysai's desk and hurriedly got to work. A frenzied grin tore out over her face. She would put the battle in terms she could recognize and adapt to. She needed to stay in one location in case the others needed to contact her, but she could not bear to be so removed from battle. Now she would not have to be.

She unfolded the hinged box and removed the small wooden pieces from within. In her former life in the real world, her Western-minded father had raised her to play chess. Despite not getting along very well, the father-daughter pair shared extremely similar mindsets. Chess was their way to release the tension between them. However, it was nearly impossible to outmove an opponent who tended to think nearly the same way you did. Therefore, each had to learn to think and act in completely atypical ways. After Yadōmaru Lisa had left the eighth division following her transformation to a Vizard, Kyōraku had taken the young Nanao under his wing and discovered her penchant for the game. However, he preferred the Japanese equivalent, shōgi. The two games were not complete parallels, but there were similarities enough that Nanao had quickly adjusted. It was over shōgi that the young unseated shinigami and her captain had first established the semblance of a relationship, and even now they would occasionally play while Nanao was waiting to see if she dared let her inebriated taichō go to sleep that night for fear he might not wake up. Even in that state, he more often than not won. That would result in Nanao stomping away and not particularly caring if he survived through the night or not.

This was the game she had brought with her now. Even though the fight for Soul Society was not exactly a "game," putting it into that setting helped her see the whole situation in a new setting. She could use the model as a giant gameboard and the shōgi pieces as representatives for the divisions and the other vice-captains. She was converting the battle into a format within which she felt comfortable making decisions, sacrificing players and taking risks. She had just enough pieces for an additional step that would help her have even better control over and access to the battlegrounds.

Morrigan appeared and glanced over Nanao's shoulder.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Using my resources," Nanao replied loftily. Morrigan grinned knowingly at her.

"That's not entirely what I was referring to, but I am glad to see you thinking out of the box. Why are you setting certain pieces aside?"

"I will give these pieces to all of the vice-captains and to the third seats of each division; in the case of the thirteenth division, I will give pieces to the fourth seats as well in case I call the two third seats away. I have called Nemu up. With her help and the use of kidō, I will convert these pieces into tracking and communication devices. Nemu will implant a small transponder so we can communicate. Then, with kidō, I will link the pieces the individuals will have with the ones here. Where they move, the corresponding figures will similarly move about the board."

"Do you have the power to do that?" Morrigan asked while raising an eyebrow and looking doubtfully at Nanao. Nanao's power was hers, and she knew its limitations.

"No, but Hinamori's can. I have called her up as well. Meanwhile, Yachiru loves to use her candy maker to design edible monsters. I will ask her to create models of the primary arrancar. Those will have to be moved by hand, but I should be able to follow their movements based mainly on where the divisions move."

Morrigan looked thoughtfully at the model and at Nanao.

"Impressive," she said quietly. "It's almost as if you think you can win this without my help," she added meaningfully. Her words jarred Nanao.

"This is not about winning; this is simply a means of keeping track of everyone and planning strategy."

"Oh, so you will finally take the time to face up to your fears, own your powers and achieve bankai?"

Nanao turned away and threw her arms up. "How many times do I have to tell you that I just don't have time right now?"

Morrigan mockingly copied her. "And how many times do I have to tell you that I completely agree, only it's your own fault you haven't done it before and you don't have a prayer if you don't just get over whatever is holding you back! Whatever happened to the ambitious young shinigami who learned my name in record time but then stagnated and never completed what she set out to do? Tell me what holds you back."

Nanao was quiet for a moment. "I'm sure you already know," she finally said quietly.

"I'm sure I do too. But I need you to acknowledge it so I can try to change your mind."

"What does it matter to you whether I achieve bankai or not? You and I are complete opposites. We're a horrible match. Something must have gone wrong." Nanao threw her hands to her head and collapsed to her knees as she felt an intense pressure coming from Morrigan and the bird.

"You don't even know who I am," Morrigan stated in a steely tone. Nanao could barely hear her over the throbbing in her head. "You don't even know what this power is. You caught a glimpse and were so startled and terrified of the possibilities you tried to reject me entirely. You hide because you are afraid of the truth." The pressure subsided and Nanao fought to catch her breath.

"I've spent my life devoted to truth," she argued weakly. Morrigan laughed. It was a terrible sound.

"Yes, the shallow kind; the kind that can be found in books and procedure manuals. You hide behind the truths of others so you do not have to face your own. You have a hidden mystery inside of you. Most shinigami will do whatever they must to unlock their powers, but you do whatever you can to shield it away. That is what I object to. You have finally started to own the feelings you hold for your captain. Now it is time to recognize the abilities that make you who you are."

"My actions and my choices make me who I am!" Nanao retorted.

"That is the outer part!" Morrigan responded quickly and fiercely. "That is what you do with your physical form. I am what you are composed of. I make you. I form you. I create you. I am more a part of you than your very name. You cannot reject me anymore than you can deny your soul. We are intertwined to the point that we are nearly the same thing. There is no place where you start and I end. The façades you layer upon yourself will never penetrate to take my place."

Nanao felt a cold chill come over her. Morrigan had her trapped in a corner she'd been avoiding for decades. "I don't… I don't like your power, my power," she confessed.

"You don't even know what it is."

Nanao closed her eyes and shook her head. "I know enough."

Morrigan knelt before her. She gently tilted Nanao's chin up to look into her eyes.

"Then the answer is to control it, not hide from it. The more you hide, the more vulnerable you become. You must achieve bankai, not only for the battle but for your own soul as well."

Nanao looked up at her, her eyes wavering. She then glanced over at the raven.

His head was cocked and he was looking intelligently at her from behind his bone mask. There was an intelligence there, and one not entirely befitting a bird. A shudder went through her. It was enough to help her regain control. She brushed Morrigan's hand aside and stood up. She smoothed her clothing and then opened her eyes to face her zampakutō.

"I have work to do."

"You are making a mistake."

"Perhaps, but it is still my choice to make."

Morrigan's response was to vanish away and reabsorb into Nanao's frame. It was an ongoing struggle that would have to continue another day.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Invasion

Alarm bells went off all over Seireitei. Nanao woke with a start. She could feel Morrigan's stare within her. Undoubtedly she had prior knowledge of whatever had happened. However, after their latest encounter hours before, Morrigan was keeping her distance from Nanao. Nonetheless, she was clearly aware and waiting for Nanao to call on her. Nanao doubted she would ever get to that point. But what could be happening? Karakura was reasonably secure – wasn't it? The twelfth had not had very long to fortify it, but hopefully it had been enough to keep it from doing more than perhaps tilting a little. Had another pillar gone down?

"Attention everyone. Espada sighted in the thirty-eighth ward! Initiating defenses!"

Nanao's throat caught. _Espada_. Worst of them all, save the three traitors. She threw her clothing on and shunpōed faster than she ever had before to the command center. How had this happened? Was the fight over below? Why had no one returned? Were they defeated? Why was there no sight of the intruders in one of the tunnels? And why had Nanao felt so confident in her preparations a few hours before? Faced with the reality of supreme leadership in a time of war she was absolutely terrified.

"What happened?" she demanded as she entered the command center.

"A, an Espada opened a tear in the outskirts. He seems to be followed by a second. Data is limited at present," Tsubokura stammered. Nanao leaned over the monitor and tapped her finger.

"Just the two so far? Must be an advance. Damn." All of her preparations had been for a full-scale invasion. Still, at least it meant the battle was continuing on Earth. Theoretically then at least some people were still alive. That was a relief. Perhaps this could work out after all; if they could take two Espada out, that would do a lot to relieve the pressure up in Soul Society and in the real world. She turned to see her colleagues behind her. They were waiting for her orders. It was time. She squared her shoulders.

"You heard, we have at least two Espada. Hinamori-san, please do reconnaissance. We need to know who they are and if there are any others coming through. Tell me immediately. You have the game piece I gave you earlier?"

She nodded. Nanao turned to the others.

"All of you?"

They answered affirmatively.

"We cannot use the headsets, as the former captains all know the frequency and could possibly tap into our conversations. We will communicate through the pieces.

Kotsubaki, you go with Hinamori-fukutaichō. You will then return here to report your

findings then go to your assigned post. Hinamori, you will report to me. I will be in the first division. Trail them and try to discern where they are going, if there are more coming and what their aim is. Kusajishi and Kurotsuchi, you will both begin your planned defenses. You will know what to do. Kotetsu Isane, return to the fourth and prepare for casualities. Send out two sections for reconnaissance as well; they know the streets of Seireitei better than anyone. Kotetsu Kiyone, report to special ops. They will already be aware of the invasion by now, but my orders are to be on standby for now. You may report to me by the shōgi pieces. Afterwards, return to your posts and await further instructions. Are we clear?"

"Hai!" The response was immediate and energetic.

"Go now."

In a flash, all were gone. Nanao turned and ran a shaky hand over her hair. However, she was still being watched and could not afford to show her nerves.

"Inform me the moment _anything_ happens!" She snapped and then shunpōed away.

Back in the first division she lay her palms on the model and breathed heavily. She broke out in a cold sweat. This was unbelievable. She was Ise Nanao! She did _not_ crack under pressure! It was absurd. And yet, she was terrified. The others had followed her orders so easily – because they had no responsibility. They trusted her. It was easier to follow orders than to give them. There was little to no culpability for doing what your commander told you to do. Being a commander was a thankless job, though, and the type that could tear your soul to shreds. Perhaps Nemu was right; it might have been better to simply sacrifice Rukogai. This paltry defense wasted resources and time. Granted, if it slowed them down even a little, it could be worth it in the long run. However, all the forces she was sending to help the inhabitants of the surrounding wards could probably be placed elsewhere that might better lead to victory.

Nanao was learning a powerful lesson; a commander had to be careful where and when to allow the heart and emotions to influence decisions. But still, what was Soul Society without the souls that the shinigami had shepherded there? The balance between the real world and Soul Society must be maintained, and for that reason if no other, they had to be protected. Nonetheless, the effects of her decision to help Rukongai weighed on her. A thousand possible side effects ran through her mind. How could she anticipate which might occur? How could she know when and where to best deploy her forces? Kyōraku had been right to tell her she was not ready for command. But that had been before, and ready or not, here she was. He had said that she lacked experience. The biggest experience gaining opportunity of her life lay before her. It was surprising he had not allowed her to gain valuable field experience before this, but perhaps he had an inkling of what Nanao's power really was. She herself had only a glimpse of it, but it was enough to know that by the end of this battle, no matter the outcome, Nanao would likely be a different person.

A thought struck her and she willed Morrigan forth. The pale girl appeared, her black lips curved in a smug smirk.

"Your enchanted game board is all a-flurry; apparently the game pieces work. You must be so proud."

Nanao ignored her words. "Why do you want me to achieve bankai _now_ of all times?"

"Because you need to be in full possession of your powers to face this threat, of course," Morrigan responded with a shrug. "Your suspicious nature is only holding you back during a time when you simply can't afford the luxury of doubt."

"I think there's more to it than that. You said you wanted me to do it before Kyōraku-taichō returned. Why is that?"

Morrigan rolled her eyes. "So you wouldn't use that as an excuse to keep putting it off, of course. Have you always been this stupid?"

Nanao crossed her arms. "I don't think so. I think the battle and invasion are only a mere convenience of timing. What you really care about is whether or not the captain is back. If he were here, he would somehow get in the way. That is why you have not insisted upon my achieving bankai beforehand. This is the first opportunity in a long time where he and I have been in separate locations. You don't him to interfere. Why is that, Morrigan?"

Morrigan's smugness was gone. She simply looked at Nanao with hard eyes and a defensive set to her small jaw.

"Why do you think?" she finally bit out fiercely. "He _would_ interfere. He perhaps knows your power better than you do. He knows your not achieving bankai is only delaying the inevitable, but he is probably afraid that you do not know how to handle your own abilities. To some degree he cannot help but look upon you as darling little Nanao-chan. His feelings for you may have grown as you did, but the paternal side is still there. He still wants to take care of you and shield you and protect you from the world around you. As long as he is near you, he will hold you back. It is impossible then for you to achieve _and conquer_ your own power while he is nearby."

Morrigan was less than pleased at being cornered into admitting the truth, and it showed in her actions and attitude. Nanao ignored her discomfort as she digested this new revelation.

"Will I be so altered?" she asked quietly.

"Well, that is up to you now, isn't it?" Morrigan asked with a glib smile and a cocked head. "Aren't you the one who said that your actions and your choices make you who you are? You could be, for all intents and purposes, exactly the same as you are now. The only difference would be that you would have your full power at your fingertips, to use or not use as you saw fit. You would have to be afraid of it, because you could finally understand it." Morrigan sauntered up to Nanao and reached into her sleeve. She drew her zampakutō out of the scabbard and held it in her left hand.

"I'm beautiful, don't you think?" she asked in a soft voice, her eyes mesmerized as she twisted the small weapon to reflect on the walls and ceilings. "Yet, you bring me out so little. Just as well. The only people who should know me intimately are the ones whose lives I take. You do right to not overuse me." The trance broke and she looked up at Nanao. "It was after you achieved my first release that you understood a part of just what I could do."

Nanao swallowed. "You are a defensive weapon, not meant for open combat."

Morrigan smiled knowingly at her, but there was a resigned sadness in her eyes. "And what else?"

Nanao licked her lips. "You are an assassin's tool."

Morrigan's lips pressed tightly together but she nodded quickly in affirmation.

"We cannot always choose our strengths." She looked sadly at the short blade.

"And the raven too," Nanao said. Morrigan's eyes darted up to Nanao's face.

"What about the raven?" she snapped.

"In many cultures, he is the symbol of death."

"Is that not befitting of a death god?" Morrigan asked innocently. Nanao sighed and took the weapon from Morrigan.

"Shinigami in general do not kill. We purify souls. But that is not your power, is it?"

"No," Morrigan sighed. "And hence why your darling captain has been so anxious to keep you from ever taking a life. He was afraid it might engage me. He wants to hold onto his kawaii Nanao-chan for as long as possible."

"Then why do you assume I would do anything that would possibly jeopardize that?" Nanao scoffed. She put the blade away. Morrigan slowly looked up to meet her eyes.

"Because it's who you are. It's inevitable."

"Not if I can help it."

"You can't, Nanao. It's a matter of time, and you may as well do it when those dearest to you are far away. Who knows what you might accidentally do until you have your powers under control?"

"I would never hurt the people I care about," Nanao replied vehemently.

"You _will_ be hurting them. I can help you in the battle ahead. Refuse me, and you doom those who serve you so willingly. You doom Soul Society as well. The choice is yours of course – for now. Think about it." Morrigan vanished.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the long pause! Real life interfered. I hope this is a satisfactory update to make up for the wait! Thanks to all the reviewers! **

Chapter 6: Knowledge is Power

Nanao leaned over the veranda's balustrade and tapped her fingers against the railing. Rain was pelting all over Soul Society and through the black clouds she could see bursts of kidō accompanying burgeoning reiatsu. There was war going on below her. The model she had relied on so far only covered Rukongai's neighborhoods closest to Seireitei, and therefore was essentially useless in keeping track of the battle on the outskirts. Two Espada had entered, but they were nowhere to be found. This was quite worrisome. Nanao could not feel them and her patrols were merely running in circles, as they encountered nothing more than Gillian. Ordinarily, Gillian-level Hollows were certainly bad enough, but if two Espada had been detected, then that was far worse. In fact, the only thing more terrible than having two Espada enter a weakened Soul Society was to have them enter and then mysteriously disappear. Nanao did not have a battle strategy to meet this situation. She would simply have to react as obstacles arose. Unfortunately, she was locked away in this room. She needed to move around, to see for herself what was happening. However, to shunpō away from these headquarters left her vulnerable to attack at a time when the entire Shinigami population was counting on her. She had to stay put, and yet this was simply not working.

Nanao gritted her teeth and dug her fingernails into the vermillion wood railing. It was frustrating and humiliating to think she had so managed to cage herself away in the first division's office. The battle was before her, and she had no idea what was happening. What would Kyōraku-taichō do? He would probably disappear for hours on end, accidentally come across an enemy, defeat him and then somehow manage to turn the tide of the war in the process. That was just how he was. Luck and good fortune surrounded him like an aura. Nothing ever turned out poorly for him. It was extremely vexing.

"Morrigan, come forward!" she bit out tersely. She sensed a certain laziness as Morrigan eased out of her and appeared at her side.

"This is more exercise than I am used to, you know. What is it now?" The small woman complained.

"I need to know my power," Nanao stated firmly.

"Oh, so now you're complying? What was that about not having the time?"

"I most definitely do not have the time for you to be snide. I will decide on bankai later, but it is a poor leader who does not gather all pertinent information before making a decision."

Morrigan pondered her words for a moment, then shrugged and pushed herself to sit on the balustrade. The raven still sat perched on her hand, its masked head cocked as it looked upon Nanao.

"Very well," Morrigan replied, "what do you want to know?"

"You say I don't know who you are. What does that mean?"

"Well, I rather think that's pretty self-explanatory," Morrigan stated with a wry smile. Nanao folded her arms.

"And I rather think I _do_ know who you are. One of us is incorrect, and I will allow that it may be me. So, what do you mean?"

Morrigan stared into space and thought for a moment.

"That is… that is still something I cannot tell you. Once you know, well, you will understand."

"Annoyingly cryptic and not at all informative, but I will accept it for now. My next question is, how were you able to see that the pillar had fallen?"

Morrigan set her chin stubbornly as she looked at Nanao. "I cannot tell you that either. It is an intrinsic part of my power. You have to discover that for yourself."

"Well how would you suggest that if you won't answer any questions?" Nanao demanded.

Morrigan rolled her eyes and pushed herself off the railing. "Power is meant to be experienced, not described. If you want the answers, you need to feel it for yourself, not study it."

This was going nowhere. Morrigan seemed to share Nanao's frustration. The problem seemed to be that she could only answer certain questions, and Nanao was simply not asking the right questions. As Morrigan walked past Nanao towards the inside room, Nanao caught a quick glimpse of her right hand. Something she had never thought about struck her. The raven had always unnerved Nanao, but she was not sure why. Now she had an inkling. It had nothing to do with its hollow-like mask, the way it sometimes looked at her or the strange pressure she felt from it. Without realizing it, Nanao had observed that she had never actually seen its feet. Even from this quick profile view, she should have seen a toe or a talon. The question had to be asked, but for some reason it took a monumental effort to release the words.

"Who is the bird?" she asked.

Morrigan froze. Nanao could feel a coldness come over her. Slowly, Morrigan turned. The two women looked on one another for a few moments before Morrigan finally removed the thumb she always held over the raven's feet. Feet, though, there were none. The raven's legs fused into Morrigan's hand. She was not simply its perch – they were united.

Nanao felt a coldness wash over her. What did this mean? The theories she had always had but never allowed herself to ponder upon overwhelmed her. She had always feared that the raven might be a part of her power, and, with that mask, perhaps it indicated hers were more akin to a Hollow's. However, she had never considered that the raven and Morrigan were one and the same. _Were_ they one and the same? Were they two different personalities physically joined at this one spot? Were they supposed to mimic divisions in Nanao's own psyche? That idea scared her more than any other.

"Do you understand?" Morrigan finally asked.

"I… I'm not sure. I don't think so yet," Nanao breathed. "What is the difference between you?"

Morrigan huffed and turned away. Clearly it pained and irritated her to admit this.

"_This_ is Morrigan," she finally bit out. "_This_ is your power. I am tied to her. I speak for her and appear as her form, but… but I am nameless."

"You are not Morrigan?" Nanao's brow knit. This was hard to accept.  
"I _am_!" she shouted angrily. "I am not independent of the raven, but she is the primary power. _We_ are Morrigan."

Nanao shakily reached back to grab the rail.

"You were right… I did not know you for who you were."

Morrigan the woman seemed slightly mollified by this admission.

"And the Hollow mask? What does it signify?" Nanao asked urgently. "Am _I_ akin to a Hollow?"

Morrigan shifted before answering. "Well, yes, of a sort. You know the basis of my power, you know the root."

"Death."

"That's right. That is in many ways more befitting a Hollow. Think of the shikai."

Nanao nodded and closed her eyes. She did not trust herself to speak, as even her breath was ragged. Her shikai, Morrigan's first release, had puzzled Nanao when she first saw it. This strange small sword more similar to a knife was an odd weapon for combat. But that was not what it was for. Its primarily usefulness was the ease with which it could be hidden. All at once, it had come upon the young girl. Its use was not for battle but for behind the scenes. What did that mean? Was she the type of infiltrate? To take the life of someone who had learned to trust and confide in her? Her shikai's attack was more intrusive even than that; its power flared out in a three-ribbed band of blue energy. It could strike like her captain's wind attack, but upon plunging into a foe, details of the individual's private life flowed into her. She could learn anything. For someone obsessed with the pursuit of knowledge, it should seem like the perfect skill, but Nanao bore it inside her like a curse. This was not the type of knowledge she wanted to learn. It was too cruel, too heartless. She could not use her power without being transformed by them, and she did not want that.

"You do not have to be afraid of me, you know."

Nanao's eyes flew open. The voice was low. Nanao thought maybe she had heard it once or twice before in a dream just before waking, but she had never known it was the raven's voice.

"You can talk to me?"

"If you know of me, yes." The sound reverberated within Nanao's head, but the raven's lips stayed shut.

"You know my thoughts and my fears. You know what I do not want to come," Nanao said slowly, looking into the bird's eyes. She had to trust her. There was no choice.

"Yes."

"What will bankai do?"

"What do you think?"

Nanao licked her lips. "I am afraid it is a massive death strike."

"It is not."

"Will it hurt people?"

"It can, but perhaps not the way you fear it can."

"But you are death!"

"I am knowledge," the bird corrected her. Nanao was taken aback. "Knowledge is powerful and it can be terrible. Death is the ultimate knowledge."

"I do not understand."

"Most do not. The powers I can give you can be used quite effectively in the role of an assassin, but that is not their only application. The choice will still be yours with how to use them."

"This is not the power of death, then?"

"No. You can still kill, but that is not the primary purpose. These powers can be terrible. As you have undoubtedly learned through your life, not all knowledge is worth knowing. Things once learned cannot be unlearned. Be choosey with how and what you seek to know. Do you understand?"

"I think so."

"So what not?" the woman Morrigan asked. Nanao waited and breathed. When she looked up, her indigo eyes were awash with kidō.

"Bankai."


	7. Chapter 7

**Apologies for the long wait! It seems whenever I start to write these stories to fill the time until the manga picks up again... well, the manga picks up again. Now to work everything out so that it sort of fits. Not sure I can do it... this'll just have to be a bit of an alternate course of action! Meanwhile, I'll try to have the next installment out much sooner.**

Chapter 7: Power

A slow grin spread over Nanao's face. She looked at her hand. Her zampakutō snaked around her left arm and down her back to wrap around her waist. It remained hidden by her kosode, which retained its left sleeve but wrapped around her torso to join at her waist, leaving her right arm fully exposed. This dramatic cut also revealed part of the long white bandage she wrapped around her chest, but in a sense this was useful; the bandage was extremely long, and in a pinch she could easily sacrifice a few lengths to wrap a wound.

Nanao lifted her right hand high and allowed a stream of kidō to stretch her arm's full length. Energy snapped against her skin like lightning. She threw her head back and laughed in elation. Her bankai removed restrictions to allow her power to run through her unimpeded. There was nothing to hold her kidō back on her right side, and at her left her zampakutō was at the ready to strike out and pierce an unsuspecting opponent whenever its mistress commanded it. Nanao felt almost dizzy with the flowing power. There were no responsibilities, no consequences. And there was more.

She leaned over the balustrade and strained her eyes. Her glasses flashed and, with what seemed like a resounding caw echoing through her mind, Nanao's eyes darted haphazardly to the battlegrounds. She could see individual battles in the midst of Rukongai. The twelfth was out there assisting Yachiru and the local townspeople with defense. She tried to scan beyond the battles to see how the borders were doing, but for some reason she could not. No matter, she would learn that skill later. For now a quick glance at the moving battle in miniature behind her showed her that the southern perimeter was the primary warzone. It appeared the Arrancar had entered from a single area and were more or less being contained there. There was no visual sign of the two Espada. However, as Nanao focused in on the battles she saw something almost as helpful. In fact, considering her powers, this particular item would be able to tell Nanao quite readily just where the Espada were. However, extracting this information would require leaving the first division. It was a risk, but with her bankai flaring through her, Nanao felt invincible.

She ordered the sixth division to split into two factions and cover the battleground from the east and west. The twelfth appeared to be handling the Gillian and Hollows quite capably from the northern side, but they needed assistance to keep the intruders contained. She could not focus in to see what was happening with the castle or with Karakura, but for the moment it appeared that they were secure. The shōgi pieces in those locations were immobile. Unfortunately, she did not have a single shōgi piece for herself; she had not planned to leave her post, which contained all of the miniature pieces on the model. Nonetheless, the various divisions' third-chairs were all quite capable. Surely they could manage without her for a moment. She called in Kotetsu Kiyone to watch the board and to fetch her should anything occur. Then, without waiting for Kiyone to arrive, Nanao climbed atop and railing and flashed away into Rukongai. She felt a rush as she darted through the streets. While in bankai mode, her shunpō seemed to resemble gliding. She was nearly imperceptible as she moved from shadow to shadow.

Before long, she was in the southern ward of Rukongai. Hollows screamed in frustration as they stepped in strange chartreuse-colored balloon blobs. As they attempted to extract themselves from the encroaching ooze, they simply became more entangled. Flying powderpuffs exploded in their faces and sent them into sneezing fits. In the distance, Nanao could see Yachiru perched on a small throne-like chair, pure mischief and delight etched on her deceivingly adorable face. Her fingers tapped together as she beheld the spectacle below her and ordered more attacks. One unfortunate Gillian found his cero transformed into a vomiting shower of daisies. Nanao smirked. Unorthodox Yachiro certainly was, and thank goodness for that.

Rukongai's defense was quite capably in the thirteenth division's vice-captain's hands. She had rallied its inhabitants to her side, from respectable business owners in the more elegant quarters down to the cutthroats and the robbers who ravaged the outer neighborhoods. They attacked side by side with a single-minded ruthlessness spurred on by the need to protect their homes. In truth, there was probably a limit to which these defenses would last, and against an Espada there was no hope whatsoever. For the moment, though, it lessened the enemies and kept other divisions from having to become involved. They could save their energies for the fights ahead.

Nanao turned to the object of her trip. Before her stood a small, teenaged girl Hollow with green hair sticking out from beneath a bone helmet. Two horns emerged from the adapted Hollow mask, but one was cut off close to its base. She seemed to be wearing little else than a vest, gloves, underwear and boots. She may not have been a practical dresser, but she certainly emitted a powerful reiatsu. She was not an ordinary Hollow. She was most definitely an Arrancar. Nanao concluded that she was likely a Número, and possibly even an Espada's Fracción. She would probably not willingly give up the location of her master, but considering Nanao's power, willingness had nothing to do with it.

Nanao's glided closer to the girl. Morrigan had been right: Nanao's powers were certainly well-suited for an assassin. It appeared even her reiatsu was masked as she darted closer and closer. Well, she would not sacrifice her ethics so far as to kill someone from behind without at least giving her the chance to defend herself! But there must certainly be a good use for her powers, and she would find it.

A gasp emerged from the green-haired girl as Nanao's zampakutō jabbed into her back. Nanao threw her right arm around the girl and pulled her back into the shadows. Her single visible pink eye was quivering. It betrayed the fact that Nanao's zampakutō had left her incapacitated. Like a spider with its prey, Nanao had paralyzed her.

"What is your name?" she hissed into the girl's ear.

"Li-Lilinette," the Arrancar girl gasped out.

"Who do you work for?"

"Ss, Stark. An Espada. I am his Fracción." Her voice was strangulated and her brow furrowed. She understood only too well her powerlessness here.

"Two Espadas entered and they have disappeared! Where did they go?" Nanao demanded.

"I, I…"

"Who are they?"

"Stark and Halibel. They are among the most powerful Espada."

"Where did they go?"

Lilinette licked her lips. "They pulled back into the real world. They opened the portal and pushed their Fracción in before being drawn back by the captains they are fighting."

"Who else is here besides you? Tell me!"

"Th, three. Halibel's Fracción are three women: Apache, Mila-Rose and Sun-Sun."

"Where are they?"

Lilinette shook her head as she attempted to fight, but Nanao only willed Morrigan to plunge further in. Lilinette gasped and tensed.

"We split up. I am covering the initial surge, then together we will attack Seireitei from four sides. They are hiding for now, and… and…."

"What else?" Nanao demanded, clutching her closer.

"Apache and Mila-Rose are looking to weaken Karakura's pillars and Sun-Sun is looking for something at the palace."

"What? Tell me what it is!"

"I don't know!" Lilinette gasped. "Maybe an entrance or maybe a person. Halibel gave her the mission personally. I do not serve her, so I did not hear." She was starting to struggle for breath. Nanao let her grip slacken a little.

"What else is there?"

"Nothing. That's it."

"Do not lie to me!"

"I can't! That is it!"

It struck Nanao that this was the truth; with Morrigan still inside her, Lilinette was incapable of lying to her. This was all there was. Still, she had to try.

"What is Aizen after?" A master of deception, Nanao still doubted that the king's key was really Aizen's main goal. It could be just a ploy to distract them. Perhaps Lilinette knew something more.

"I do not know. I do not know anything about Aizen-sama's intentions. I serve Stark. If Stark serves Aizen-sama, then I serve Aizen-sama. But first and foremost, I serve Stark."

Nanao's eyes met with Lilinette's. She saw a piece of herself in the girl gasping in her arms. They seemed to share a similar sense of loyalty to their commanding officer. Lilinette fainted then and Nanao withdrew Morrigan. She felt sorrow but forced herself to will it away. This was war, and war required fierce measures. Besides, she had not killed the girl, nor had she inflicted a particularly serious wound in her. This was certainly a better method at extracting information than torturing her! Yes, there were defenses aplenty for what she did. And yet, Nanao could not completely remove her guilt.

She allowed the unconscious Lilinette to slide to the ground. She should probably take her and have her locked up, but somehow she did not feel like doing so. Perhaps if she left Lilinette as she was and gave her the opportunity to escape or be rescued by her own side it might remove some of Nanao's feelings of regret.

Just then Kiyone darted to her.

"Ise-fukutaichō!" she cried then gasped as she beheld Lilinette at Nanao's feet. Her eyes glanced back and forth between the two figures. Nanao could see her brain comprehending that, based on her appearance, Nanao must be in her bankai mode, and yet there was no sword to be seen. There was no telling just what Nanao had done to the Arrancar.

"What is it?" Nanao replied coolly.

"The, the command center. There is something happening around Karakura!" Her eyes remained focused on Lilinette.

Nanao nodded and drew away from Lilinette.

"Very well. I will return now."

"A, and what about… um, about…" Kiyone jerked her head towards Lilinette. Nanao looked back on her. She was breathing, so she was still alive. That was a relief.

"Leave her. She is no longer a threat to us."

"But, should we not take her in for questioning?"

"There is nothing more she can tell us. Leave her be, third-seat Kotetsu."

Kiyone snapped to attention. "Yes, Ise-fukutaichō!"

"Scout the perimeters. Let me know if there are any holes in Rukongai's defenses."

"I understand!" She shunpōed away.

Nanao turned away and began retreating to the first division. She allowed her bankai to fade. Calling it forth had filled her with such elation, but now she felt hollow. She shook her head and shunpōed towards Seireitei. This was war, and that was all there was to it. She had learned valuable information from Lilinette. This was what she needed to perform her duty. Soul Society's protection came before everything. Surely no one could blame her for the measures used. So why could she not shake her guilt?


	8. Chapter 8

**Yay! Another update! I'll try to keep more on top of this story; nothing worse than trying to read a serial and the author goes AWOL. What do you guy's think of Nanao's bankai? I know a lot of people were expecting Nanao to get her bankai and just go out and kick serious Espada "shiri" (shiri Japanese for butt), but this is definitely going in a different direction. Shiri-kicking could still occur, but probably not for a little while. **

**Also, I make a reference to a conversation that happens in my previous story. Anyone should still be able to follow what is happening here without knowing that story, but I just wanted to point that out in case it's confusing. **

Chapter 8: Consequences

Back in the first division, Nanao wearily walked over to the model and watched the shōgi pieces dart around the board. These were the third-seats and the remaining vice-captains. They were operating under her orders, and yet she could not force herself to switch on her analytical side. She simply stared, as if what lay before her was nothing more than a motorized toy. She felt something cold and thin tickle along the side of her neck. She was about to reach a hand up to brush it away when she froze and her eyes grew wide.

"It's not nice to sneak up on someone from behind, is it?" a low voice lulled into her ear. Nanao's voice caught and she whirled away and under the blade threatening her throat. As she backed away, her hand darted up her sleeve to pull out her zampakutō. She willed her breath to stop coming in raspy gasps, but there was nothing she could do about her pounding heartbeat. The man in front of her did not seem surprised by her maneuver. It was clear he did not want to kill her, at least not yet. He gazed on her with sad eyes. Nanao almost felt like it was Kyōraku himself looking down on her. The two men even resembled one another; granted, the physical resemblance was nearly so striking as that between her captain and his real brother, but this stranger and Kyōraku-taichō shared a certain spirit. As his eyes remained locked on her, Nanao remembered a conversation she had had with her mentor and predecessor a few days before about Hollows and Shinigami.

_Lisa gave Nanao a queer look. "How much thought have you really put into this war, or even in the relationship between shinigami and hollow? Not much, I'm guessing, but it's just about all that's been on my mind for the past century or so. Here, think about it this way – how would you describe shinigami and hollows?"_

"_We're exact opposites."_

_Lisa smiled coldly at her. "Precisely. Exact opposites. We're so opposite one another that we've ended up being exactly the same. We're two sides of the same coin; we may be opposites, but when it comes down to it we're just different expressions of the same essence."_

The man before Nanao now could be the Arrancar equivalent to Kyōraku-taichō. Is that how this worked? Was Yadōmaru Lisa correct? Were they really just two sides of the same coin, only to a greater extent than even she had imagined? Were there Hollow counterparts for every Shinigami? It was a strange thought. Was there someone just like Nanao? What of that Lilinette? No, they had not quite seemed like mirrored opposites, but nonetheless Nanao had found commonality with her enemy. Even now, seeing an opponent who bore such a striking resemblance to the man she served and respected so deeply caused her resolve to waver. This would not be easy.

"Are you Stark?" she finally managed to ask. He inclined his head.

"May I know your name? You were not quite kind enough to return the favor of introductions to my adjutant." His tone was polite but cold. He was here to avenge his subordinate. Nanao was in serious trouble.

"Ise Nanao, fukutaichō of eighth division."

He bowed slightly and waved his hand as if to tip an invisible hat. His eyes did not move from Nanao's face, though.

"I have met your captain."

Nanao's heart leaped.

"We were in the midst of battle, actually. I sent Lilinette here, ironically to keep her safe while preparing for the charge. When I felt her troubled reiatsu, well, I had to extend my apologies to your captain and came back here to her rescue. I will return and battle will resume quite soon. But first I had to see just who had such a troublesome power. I admit I am less than pleased to find out such pain was caused by my opponent's vice-captain. I imagine he would spring to your defense as quickly as I would rush to my own adjutant's. And yet, how could someone who trains with a man who seems as honorable as your captain behave so dishonorably?"

"We are in the midst of war," Nanao bit out in a steely voice. "Lilinette was an invader, as you are. Surely you cannot blame me for taking actions to defend my home against the likes of you."

His eyebrows lifted slightly. "The likes of me? Are we the ones who have attacked without a chance to defend ourselves? Are we the ones who remove all potential for resistance when extracting information? If it was but a simple battle, I would not have come here. Even if Lilinette lay dying on the battleground, I could not have come. However, I felt something so troubling from her. It was as if she faced a torture worse than death. Can you imagine what that might be, Ise-san?"

"Torture?" Nanao exclaimed angrily. "My power eliminates the need for torture. It is effective and useful. It does not permanently injure and it does not kill. It interrogates without leaving serious effects. In the hands of others, she could have been very damaged!"

Stark's eyes bore into her, but his face held a bemused look. It was as if he was waiting for her to realize that she did not believe what she said. Nanao had often seen the same look on her captain's face when she had said something particularly naïve. This same conclusion seemed to come to Stark, and his expression lightened. He looked at her now as if she were a wayward child playing with a power she did not understand. He was not angry anymore; he pitied her.

"It is true, your technique may not leave much of a physical scar on a person," he began slowly. "But the emotional scars run deeper than any sword could ever penetrate. Torture as you seem to imagine it does not eliminate free will. Torture still supplies the possibility of resistance. Inflict as much pain as you want, and it is an individual's right to decide when is too much or if it is possible to supply misleading information, or perhaps none whatsoever. You took Lilinette's spirit away from her. You bypassed the one thing that makes her who she is. You pushed through her sense of self and tapped into her mind. It is an invasion far worse than mere physical torture, my lovely fukutaichō."

Nanao shook her head. "You cannot mean that."

"Why not? What is worse than betraying your comrades than the knowledge that you did not even have the chance to resist?"

"She does not need to feel guilty for what she said," Nanao said fiercely. His words were horrid, and she could not allow herself the possibility of admitting that he was correct. "Since she had no choice, she is not responsible for the information she imparted. If anything, she should feel relieved. There was no betrayal, she had no choice." Her voice was shaky, but nonetheless, she held on to the position that she was correct.

"Relieved?" Stark's eyebrows rose. "Relieved for having her mind raped? What strange ethics you Shinigami possess."

Nanao's eyes swam and she struggled to keep her zampakutō steady as she listened to what he said. His words cut through her. He was right. She had done a monstrous thing. This power she held was everything she feared it might be, and more. It was an absolute power directed towards absolute knowledge. And yet, just as it removed Lilinette's sense of self, it obliterated Nanao's as well. The compassion and the honor her captain had instilled in her had been overcome by a greedy need for information. The drive to know everything had always been in her, but she had been raised by a man who would not allow baser instincts to overcome the innate kindness that lay entrenched beneath her obsessive drive to learn at all costs. Kyōraku's face suddenly appeared before her. He seemed to look on her with a quiet, sad understanding. What he had feared had happened, and now she was not the Nanao-chan he had known.

The vision faded and Nanao dropped to her knees. She had been defeated by words and emotion, not by sword. Part of her head screamed at her to pick up the fallen zampakutō, rise up and fight this man. It was her duty. It was her job. What would happen if she did not? What would happen to Soul Society with an Espada on the loose and the person in command incapacitated? And yet, Nanao could not force herself to attack or defend herself. Loathing soared over her. She had given in to Morrigan. She had given in to a glorified perception of her abilities without taking into consideration their full connotations. She had left her command post vulnerable and had dishonorably attacked an enemy. Stark was right. The evil one in this equation was not a Hollow, but a Shinigami.

As Stark approached, Nanao quietly bowed her head. She had no will to fight. More than anything, she could not bear to see her captain's face when he learned of what she had done. Stark raised his sword against her heart. Nanao stayed where she knelt. This was not how she wanted her life to end, but at this moment she did not want it to go on. Her power was too cruel to keep, and as she had learned, she could only deny it for so long.

She gasped in pain as she felt Stark's sword plunge into her. Her body rose involuntarily in response to the strike. His hand darted around her back and he helped lower her to the ground.

"You spared Lilinette, and I will spare you. Remember this, Ise Nanao: only fight with the mentality that the end justifies the means when the means justify the end."

Stark withdrew his sword. He had only struck Nanao's left shoulder. The wound was deep, and it would be some time before she could use her bankai power again. But she was not severely incapacitated. Stark opened a tear and left Soul Society, probably to resume his fight with her captain. Nanao breathed heavily as she lay on the floor. Soul Society was safe, comparatively at least. There were still Fracción to fight, though. The battle was not over. For this moment, though, Nanao could not help but lie where she was with blood seeping out of her wound. The Seireitei miniature was a-flurry with activity. No doubt the two Fracción working to dislodge Karakura's pillars had been found. People were probably waiting for Nanao's orders. And yet, Nanao stayed where she was.


	9. Chapter 9

**Poor Nanao-chan! I admit, I'm kind of sad that this story has turned out to be so dark. This is apparently what happens when Shunsui goes away. Still, I guess that's war for ya. **

Chapter 9: Acceptance

"Ise-san! Are you all right?"

Nanao groggily opened her eyes. A cloudy film kept her from seeing who was addressing her, but she recognized Hinamori Momo's voice.

"Isane-san, how is she?"

"I'm all right," Nanao mumbled. Both Momo and Isane looked down over her.

"I have called for a relief team. You will be transported to the fourth division shortly," Isane said in a cool tone. Nanao gripped her arm and started pulling herself upward. A jarring jolt emanated from her left shoulder and she fell back on the stone floor with a cry.

"What happened?" Momo asked, her brow contorted.

"It doesn't matter," Nanao gasped through the pain. "Help me up."

"You should not be standing, Ise-san," Isane chided. "Just stay here until the squad arrives."

"Cancel it. I'm can't leave."

"You can hardly stay here and-"

"Hinamori-san, what is the current status?" Nanao interrupted.

The two women glanced at one another before turning back to Nanao.

"The attention has shifted from the invading Gillian to Karakura. The battle is now two-sided from both Soul Society and the real world. The twelfth and sixth are nearly finished cleaning up Rukongai. I have ordered them to return once it is clear. The eleventh is already engaging a new Hollow invasion around Karakura. The third is backing them up. It appears there are two sections being led by two female Arrancar."

Nanao simply nodded. None of this was surprising to her. "What about the castle?"

Hinamori glanced at the Seireitei model. "Nothing seems to be occurring there."

"Inform the second division that there may be another Arrancar lurking about there."

Hinamori nodded and walked over to the miniature. She picked up the coordinating shōgi piece and conveyed Nanao's orders. Once again Nanao started to push herself up. Isane came around and allowed Nanao to lean against her.

"I have to tell you that I heavily recommend you go to the fourth division," she stated again slowly.

"Am I in any serious danger?"

"No, not that I can tell. You seem to have simply blacked out from the pain and a bit of blood loss. You could not have been here very long before Momo-san found you. She was able to stop the bleeding and called for me. I arrived only just before you awoke. So, your wound does not appear to be serious, but it is a bit strange. It seems like it started healing itself somehow. I do not know what instrument caused this wound, but this strange healing power must either come from you or from whatever hurt you. Do you know?"

"I… Yes, yes, it's fine," Nanao said brusquely. In truth, she did not know. It was just as mysterious to her as it was to Kotetsu Isane. Was this a sign of her, and Morrigan's, power, or was it from Stark's weapon?

"Anyway, just to be certain, I tested a bit of your blood and lightly explored the wound. I could not find any contamination in the blood or any foreign object located in your shoulder, so I do not think there is danger in allowing it to heal on its own. Still, I would much prefer to have you back in the fourth where I can give you a proper look over."

Nanao waved her away. "That is not necessary. Your current diagnosis is sufficient for me. I will stay here."

"As acting head of the fourth division, I can order you to undergo treatment," Isane warned with a dubious look on her face.  
"And as acting head of all divisions, I can ignore that order." Nanao pushed hard against the floor and stood upright. Her head swooned a little, but she was all right. Normally a non-life threatening wound would not cause her to pass out so easily as this had, but she assumed that whatever power was helping her heal quickly had also forced her to sleep.

She looked back at Isane. "I really am all right. I must remain here."

Isane looked dubiously at her then shook her head. "All right, but Momo-san, please stay with her."

Nanao was about to protest, but a fierce look from Isane assured her that this was a stipulation she was going to be firm about. Despite her normally reticent nature, there was a steeliness to Kotetsu Isane that no one argued with. Undoubtedly this was from Unohana-taichō's influence. Nanao nodded quickly. Isane left. Nanao turned back to the board, ignoring Momo's curious stare.

"How long do you think it was before you found me?" she asked coolly.

"I'm not sure exactly, but not long, I think. I felt a strange reiatsu and hurried here. It was gone when I arrived and you were lying there."

Nanao nodded jerkily. So she had not seen Stark. No one had to know, then.

"Who was with you? Who injured you?" Momo asked tentatively.

"It was nothing – an accident. Meanwhile, I need you to go to the castle and help look for anyone who should not be there."

"Why do you believe there is someone to be found?"

"I simply do. Will you follow my directions or not?" Nanao asked harshly.

Momo simply looked at her. "You are hiding something."

"I gave you an order!"

Momo turned her face away and clutched her fists. "I am tired of people hiding things from me," she said in a fierce whisper. "If you want me to follow your orders, you must tell me what is happening. Who was here? Who injured you? And why do you believe there is someone at the castle? Why are you hiding these things?" she cried.

Nanao looked down at the model. She smirked sadly. It was ironic – Nanao had the power to call forth the truth from anyone, but no one could bring it out of her. There was so much her powers could do; for example, if Nanao had at some point used Morrigan against Aizen, perhaps everything could have been different. But then, how would she have known? Simply because she had the power to force people to tell the truth hardly meant she had the right to use it. Lilinette and Stark had shown her that.

"An Espada was here briefly, but he is gone now," she finally admitted. Momo gasped.

"You fought an Espada and have only a minor wound to show for it?"

"His intention was not to kill me, but to teach me a lesson."

"What sort of lesson?"

Her hand reached up to touch her wound. She could feel the skin reconnecting beneath the bandages Isane had placed there.

"It doesn't matter. The lesson was learned. Meanwhile, I discovered that there were four Fracción here. One has likely left and two are in Karakura. The castle is a likely location for the fourth to head to. You should go there and help in the search."

Momo crossed her arms and creased her brow. "You were injured by an Arrancar and you expect me to leave you alone? Even Isane-san does not know exactly what is causing your shoulder to heal so rapidly. You should not be left on your own."

"Please do as I ask, Hinamori-kun."

"But-"

"That is all, Hinamori-kun."

Momo was silent for a moment more then turned to leave. She had not gone more than a step or two before stopping and turning back. Nanao ignored her, but Momo stared intently at her before bracing herself and taking a deep breath.

"You know, what you've just been through is no less suspicious than what happened with me, and yet you expect me to follow your every command when you won't even give me the benefit of a doubt!" she cried out in protest. Nanao looked up at Momo in surprise.

"An Espada invaded! Two of them did, and we have been looking everywhere for them! One suspiciously breaks through our defenses to confront you here and manages to wound you. However, even though it is not a terribly serious injury, you black out. You allow him to go. You did not fight him further, because if you had if you would be more hurt. Moreover, his reiatsu would have stayed longer. Something strange is happening here, and unless you want me to arrest you on suspicion of being in league with the Arrancar, you should tell me what is happening!" She finished with a stubborn set to her jaw.

Nanao turned to the balcony and let out a long breath. She did not believe that Momo seriously suspected that she was a traitor, but she did raise a reasonable objection. Moreover, under the circumstances, she would not be out of line to arrest Nanao. It was quite possible too. Hinamori Momo was one of few shinigami capable of matching if not possibly out-maneuvering Nanao when it came to kidō, and that was without injury.

"I attacked one of the Fracción," she admitted before she could take the time to weigh the consequences of confessing to Momo. "That is how I know about the others and that one has been sent to the castle."

"Why didn't you simply say that?"

Nanao paused before answering. "I used… I used a not very pleasant method of interrogating her. Her Espada lord came to fetch her and he confronted me about my particular technique. I was ashamed. My guard was down. He struck me but decided not to kill me as I had not killed his subordinate. He left. You found me straight after." Nanao held back the desire to break down. She still did not fully trust Hinamori, but at the same time, inasmuch as she loathed recounting what she had done, Nanao needed someone to know and to pass judgment on her.

"What technique is this?" Momo asked quietly.

"My zampakutō. It can extract any type of information from anyone. Lying is impossible. I attempted to use bankai for the first time and… I forgot myself." Nanao ran a shaking hand over her hair. "When the Espada came to confront me, I felt like I wanted to die. I allowed my inner power to make me do something so cruel… that is why I did not want you to know. I don't want anyone to know. I don't even want to think about it, but I can't quite stop."

"Others might not think that what you did was wrong," Momo pointed out softly.

At that, an emotional floodgate broke in Nanao. "I know, but it was for me. Some might have no qualms about being ruthless towards the enemy, but it is not a tactic Kyōraku-taichō could ever condone. I just… I just wanted to know so badly what was happening. I had no data to work off of. Seireitei's security was on my shoulders, and I didn't know what to do next. I thought I could control the powers inside me and that perhaps in this one case such extreme measures could be forgiven."

Momo was silent for a moment, but when she replied her voice was wavering with restrained tears. "The desire to be all-knowing is just as damaging as the desire to be ignorant of what we don't want to see. We make mistakes, Ise-san. Unfortunately, the mistakes do not go away. Someone is always there to hold us accountable for what we did or did not do. And if there isn't, then the memories do it for us. The more we run, the worse it becomes. Finally, all we really can do is to hold our heads high and acknowledge what we've done. Kyōraku-taichō's judgment can hardly be worse than the punishments you probably feel you deserve. Perhaps that is as it should be. For then, once you have understood that no punishments, no judgments, no repentance can undo or condone an action you truly regret… at that point, you can move on. Understand your own limitations as an imperfect person. Accept your shame as a splinter in your soul. It will eventually scab and heal over, but nonetheless it is part of you now. Your actions from now on will be shaped by your prior decisions. Atonement is not always possible, but sometimes the one who are looking for forgiveness from is really just ourselves."

Nanao looked up at Momo. The small woman was smiling even as her eyes brimmed with tears. She understood only too well. She was in pain too, and her shame was greater than Nanao's. Although she conceptually knew her captain was a traitor, her heart would not completely accept the idea. She fought on nonetheless, despite the fact that her head and heart were in constant battle. She fought on despite the mistrust other Shinigami, including Nanao, treated her with. That realization only shamed Nanao the more. However, Momo turned to her with a sad, hopeful smile and Nanao found herself returning it.

"The only part that is worse than knowing I did such a terrible thing is knowing that the potential and the desire to do it again is inside me. I always knew it, and I fought it before. I should never have attempted bankai. I knew better," Nanao said bitterly as she shook her head.

"You have not yet controlled your bankai, then. It is still unrestrained. An incomplete bankai is very dangerous, but if you are this far along then you have no choice but to finish what you began," Momo advised. She looked out over the balcony to the battle occurring in the distance. "Aizen-sama told me that," she said in a faraway voice. "Whatever he might have been, I do not think he was wrong in this instance. All things considered, I suppose he actually knows the danger of an incomplete bankai better than just about anyone, really."

Nanao simply watched her. Momo turned back around and the strange mood was broken.

"Would you like me to go to the castle to help search for the third Fracción?" she asked. Nanao nodded. Momo flashed away and Nanao turned back to the miniature in the center of the room.

There were certain things Hinamori had been correct about. There was no avoiding a sin such as this. Horrible as it was to accept, Nanao had to acknowledge that what she had done was wrong. Moreover, she had to acknowledge that, despite her rationalizations, she had knowingly committed a terrible act in violating Lilinette's mind. She had to tell Kyōraku about it. She now understood what Morrigan had said about his perception of her likely changing upon achieving bankai. It would. Things between them might be forever altered. This one transgression might have jeopardized her future happiness with him. However, she could not undo what she had done. That was the bitterest pill of all. Thoughts are fluid, but actions are finite. Nanao swallowed and brushed tears away from her eyes. Things could not be undone. She could only move forward from here and resume her duties as acting commander of Seireitei. That was the only thing that mattered now.


	10. Chapter 10

**I'm sorry, I don't mean to keep going away on such long breaks :o(. Sometimes it's unavoidable, and sometimes it's because I want to take more time to develop the story. I have a pretty good idea of where this is going to go, so *hopefully* it won't take me quite so long to update next time. Not quite sure how much is left. It could be another 2 chapters, or it could be another 10. Either way, story will be finished!  
**

**Thanks for all the reviews! I love reading them and hearing your reactions and suggestions. They're all such good ideas! The feedback is phenomenal, and sometimes it makes me consider new perspectives I hadn't thought about. Soooo, keep them coming!**

Chapter 10: Moving On

"Ise-fukutaichō! Update on Karakura: the Arrancar are consolidating their two fronts. The eleventh and third divisions have closed ranks to push them away from the town. Hinamori-fukutaichō sent word that she is at the castle but nothing out of the ordinary has been spotted."

Nanao listened dispassionately to third-seat Kotetsu's report.

"Have you heard from the twelfth or central command yet about developing a method to send the invasion back to the real world or to Hueco Mundo?" she asked calmly.

"Not yet, but they have not yet checked in. With your permission, I will go to central command presently and ask for an update."

Nanao glanced at Kotetsu Kiyone out of the corner of her eye. The girl knelt a few meters behind her. Her head was bowed, but it was clear she was doing her best not to stare at the blood spills from where Nanao had lain not long before.

"Yes, please do that," she replied. "Before reporting back to me, please check in with all divisional third seats and get an estimate on casualties. Also, inform Kusajishi-fukutaichō that I require an update on the status of Rukongai. Ask her to bring a visual recording as well. I need to see the destruction for myself."

Kiyone shouted her acquiescence and flashed from sight. Nanao looked at the model. Yachiru's piece had changed only a little in the past hour, but now it appeared she was on the move. Hopefully she was aiding the twelfth and sixth in combing for hidden Hollows. There were also the local militias to take into consideration as well. Nanao picked up a shōgi piece and informed the tenth to be on standby. If the Rukongai battle was settled, at least for now, then she needed the twelfth to return to their headquarters and work on both defenses and ways to drive the invaders out. If all was clear, the tenth could replace them.

The castle still worried her. If the Arrancar Sun-Sun was really there, surely she would have been spotted. Without notification, perhaps she could go unnoticed. However, Nanao had warned the divisions and defenses around the castle. Or, rather, she had heard Hinamori warn them. A nervous doubt arose in Nanao as she realized that she had also sent the troubled vice-captain to help root the Arrancar out. She did not want to doubt Hinamori's loyalties more than she already had, particularly in light of the scenario that had just played out between them, but nonetheless it could not hurt to check in. She picked up the piece for the second division and asked lightly if there was any news of the Arrancar believed to be lurking in the area. She recognized the voice that replied. It was indeed the second division's third chair. He expressed no surprise at her words. Instead, he merely replied that, no, nothing out of the ordinary had been found, but that patrols had been increased.

An uneasy feeling rose up in Nanao as she replaced the game piece on the model. It did not make sense. Lilinette had said that Sun-Sun would be there. Therefore, that meant that she would be… didn't it? With a jolt Nanao realized a rather significant flaw to her zampakutō's power. It forced the truth out of anyone it entered, however, all it required was the truth as far as its opponent was concerned. It had no power over actualities. In other words, as far as Lilinette knew, Sun-Sun had been sent to the castle. That hardly meant that she had actually gone. Perhaps she had rebelled, or been injured, or been given other instructions. Perhaps Aizen had foreseen Nanao's powers and made sure that Lilinette purposely overheard incorrect information and would be in such a place to be accosted by Nanao. Perhaps she was falling into a trap.

With a moan, Nanao lowered her head. Once anyone knew of her power, it was easy to exploit by simply planting misleading data. There was no guarantee that what she had learned from Lilinette would actually play out that way. Inasmuch as what she had learned could be very useful, it could be equally as damaging. So, the question now became: did she continue to keep divisions on the search for Sun-Sun around the palace, or did she split them up and send them about Soul Society to see if she had gone elsewhere? If she chose the former, it could all be a fruitless, division tactic. Sun-Sun could actually be far away and completely undetected. If she chose the latter option, the palace could be left vulnerable to attack or infiltration. Nanao reached up and ran a hand over her ragged face. In the end, her powers and the emotional trauma she had put Lilinette (and indeed herself) through could be utterly worthless.

"It isn't easy, is it?"

Nanao closed her eyes. This was the last thing she wanted to deal with. She felt a flash of rage swell through her. She contained it, but the eyes she turned to look upon Morrigan were filled with hate.

"You tricked me."

"I never did," Morrigan replied evenly. "You tricked yourself into believing you had bankai. You must have seen how weak it was. Some powers you have attained, but you do not fully possess it."

Nanao simply looked at her, waiting for Morrigan's calm exterior to break. Surely she would laugh or somehow show some sort of emotion betraying that she had gotten the better of Nanao. Surely she was here to gloat.

"You still don't understand," the young woman continued.

"What more would you have me do?" Nanao spit out. "You caused me to do a cruel and horrible thing. And for what? Information that might be worthless? A tainted conscience? A poor girl who has to live with a violated mind?"

"I told you: without conquering your bankai, the people around you will get hurt. You do not understand the full weight of your powers yet."

"I understand enough!" Nanao retorted bitterly. "I understand it is nothing I want. I'd rather have no powers than these."

Morrigan reached out with her free hand to grab Nanao's arm. Nanao looked at her face with surprise and saw urgency in Morrigan's eyes.

"Yes, it can be misused. It can be abused. What you have seen is only a part of what you can do, and it is a terrible responsibility. You have seen firsthand the possibilities. But that is not all."

"Oh, what else? The increased vision? How I can see battles occurring far away? The changes to my shunpō? Is that what you mean?"

Morrigan smiled confusedly and shook her head. "Those are quite minor. What you have experienced so far are side effects alone. You must continue going."

"I'm sure you would like that. How long until I can no longer control my own soul?" Nanao demanded.

"Forever, as long as you keep possession of it. You are not in danger of losing it, at least not to me."

"It sure seems like I lost it earlier!"

Morrigan released her arm and turned away. She was clearly agitated as she walked aimlessly through the room before swirling around to face Nanao again.

"You do not trust yourself," she finally said. "I am not the first person to have told you this, and you know it. And it's true. What happened before is a sign of the lack of control you have over yourself. It can happen from time to time in the course of gaining control of your powers and your bankai. Most shinigami who have reached the point of achieving bankai have already struggled and come to terms with their own demons within. You have not. You have reached this point through sheer determination and innate ability alone. You command yourself with an iron will that has allowed you to come very far in a fairly short period of time. However, this control has split yourself into two parts. The part that you have more trouble controlling you have locked away and ignored. But it is all you! These are all facets to your personality!"

"Are you suggesting this 'locked away part' took control? And _that_ is why I attacked Lilinette like that?" Nanao asked skeptically.

Morrigan thought for a while and changed tactics. "You have seen for yourself that you are capable of cruelty as well as kindness. Yes, congratulations, those emotions are part of being alive," she said with a scoffing laugh and a sardonic smile. "The healthy thing to do is to acknowledge the good and the bad and gain control over yourself that way. Denying pieces of you only makes them erratic. When you lowered your defenses and called forth your bankai, your internal pendulum swung too far. You lost your equanimity. That is why you acted as you did. Equanimity comes not from all that is good and honorable, but from a mixture of the qualities you like and the qualities you dislike. They are equal. They are you. You are rational and irrational. You are emotional and unemotional. You are kind and unkind. You are every extreme and everything in between. That is how people are. Balance will occur one way or another; if you put too much stress on one side and neglect the other, eventually you will lose control in favor of reclaiming balance."

Nanao's brow knitted as she tried to understand Morrigan's words. "You are saying that I do not have control over all my feelings… because I have too _much_ control?"

"Too much command. You deny half of who you are. That is why you have not fully achieved bankai yet. That is why you lost control of your reason as you did."

Nanao folded her arms and raised an eyebrow. "And this is all because I do not trust myself?"

"That's right. You do not trust that, on instinct, you will behave according to your inner spirit. You are afraid of what you are capable of and keep tight watch over your actions and behaviors. That has finally started breaking down lately because of your changing relationship with your captain. And now it is affecting the relationship you have with yourself."

Nanao walked over to Yamamoto's desk and sat down. This was too confusing. She felt she could understand a basic truth lying within Morrigan's confusing words, but was not certain.

"So… if I let down my barriers, let go of all control, call forth bankai and just act on instinct… it will all work out?" The skepticism was clear in her voice.

Morrigan shrugged. "Perhaps it won't. But if you don't, your power most assuredly will come out. Bankai will be attained, either as a Shinigami… or as a Hollow."

Nanao felt a finger of cold stretch down her spine as the blood drained from her face. Sensing that her point had been made, Morrigan faded away. Nanao turned back to the model before her. The stakes were the same, yet were direr than she had imagined. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply as she worked to get her fluttering heart under control. Opening her eyes, Nanao looked again at the board. She had not failed yet – that was important to remember. In fact, overall, things seemed quite good. Two of the three Arrancar were accounted for. Karakura was still secure. Despite all odds, Rukongai was relatively undamaged.

Surely they were close to resecuring Soul Society. If they could merely manage to keep the Hollows and Espada out until the captains and vice-captains in the real world had finished their duties and returned, this would be a success. At that time, Nanao could ask Kyōraku-taichō for help with her bankai. She would take care of what she needed to take care of. It would all come out right. She just needed to complete this battle.

Nanao straightened her back and smiled. This was the most peaceful she had felt since Kyōraku had left. She could see this to the end, and then things would go back to the way they were before. She could be where she was supposed to be – by his side and supporting his command.

What Nanao did not know was that another pair of eyes watched her from the shadows.


	11. Chapter 11

**Maybe if I predict it'll be a long period of time, then perhaps I'll update a little sooner next time... Although, to be honest, I think there will probably be a bit of a pause before chapter 12. I want to see what will happen in the manga before continuing, although I have a general idea of where this is going to go. Even though this is an alternate course of events, I still like to try to make my story and the main storyline fit together (you know, with little visits to Soul Society by 4 Arrancar that just happen to take place before or in the middle of battles in the real world...). I might just have to give that up in favor of finishing the story, though!**

**Thanks again to all people leaving reviews. I really appreciate it. They mean a lot, and they help me continue planning out plotting out the chapters ahead! So, clearly, if you want to see the next chapter sooner rather than later, you'll have to review more! Um, maybe. Anyway, enjoy!  
**

Chapter 11: Attack

A shock of warning flashed through Nanao. She whirled and slid across the floor just in time to avoid a massive bolt of energy. She panted heavily as she crouched on the floor, more from surprise over the attack that had just been levied against her than by physical exhaustion. Even so, she felt a twinge of pain in her still healing shoulder. Her eyes stared at the remnants of Yamamoto Sōtaichō's desk. The ends remained intact, but the center was reduced to a smoldering hole. Even the chair had lost its back. This was a powerful attack. More to the point, it was a powerful cero. From that alone, Nanao knew to be wary of her opponent even before she located who that was. She had a fairly good idea of who that would be, though.

Across the room, a thin woman with long hair and an even layer of bangs stepped out from behind a column. One hand was raised to her face, the fingers hidden by the long sleeves of her white dress. The other was still outstretched and preparing another cero blast. Nanao raised her own arm and was able to quickly counter this attack, which, while still strong, did not have the power of the first.

"I've been watching you," the Arrancar stated, as if in explanation. Nanao's brow knit. The newcomer smiled coldly and shook her head. "Not at the palace," she continued. "I was here. Watching you. I've been here since Stark arrived. You aren't the only one with the power to hide your reiatsu, you know. I could have killed you so many times, but I had to wait to see your power. If only I'd arrived a little sooner, I could have watched what you did to Lilinette, but, ah well. After your conversation with your zampakutō, I gather you won't release her without being engaged in battle and so, well, you give me few options," she finished apologetically.

"Sun-sun," Nanao stated quietly.

"Well, of course. There really aren't many other options, are there?" She pushed her green hair over her shoulder and pushed a small trident out through the opening of her long sleeve. "Would you like me to begin, or would you prefer to start?" Sun-sun asked politely.

Nanao stepped warily to the side but did not reach for her zampakutō yet. "Why would you come here? You must have heard from Aizen about my powers. What advantage could you have in seeing them for yourself."

"I have heard about your powers from Halibel, the Espada that I serve. She was privileged with the information from Aizen-sama, not me. She did tell me all that she could, but ultimately, it seems your fully realized powers are still a bit of an enigma, to be honest. A shinigami who becomes lieutenant without relying on her zampakutō, yet displays an extraordinary talent for kidō? If she was unskilled with her sword, surely she would have been accepted into the fourth or the second division rather than the eighth. And yet, as a mere child you were recruited by Kyōraku Shunsui, favored by Yadōmaru Lisa, and quickly rose to take her place after, well, 'the incident.' Despite your enormous potential, you rarely drew your weapon. Halibel informs me that Aizen-sama confessed he had to think for quite some little while to remember your utilizing shikai even once. But then, he did recall a single time in battle where you withdrew your zampakutō and fired. He read a report about your interesting skill – the power to make anyone truthfully answer whatever you ask. I have heard that for all your carefully hidden insecurities you are remarkably bright, and even if you have not understood just what your power's implications might be, your surprisingly astute captain would have noticed. How disappointed I am that your reticence has forced me to attack you personally. I would have much preferred to observe," Sun-sun stated sadly.

Nanao was taken aback. Her power's implications? For this war? Against Aizen? This was not something she had considered. Was this what Morrigan had been hinting at? Had her captain actually deduced this and not told her? What did it mean? What was she missing?

Sun-sun took a ready stance and watched Nanao impatiently. She finally sighed, straightened up and shook her head. "I do not know what has you so dumbfounded, but it really is time for us to begin. I do have other duties, you know. I admit I was amazed at how easily you were lured into using you're a partially realized bankai with Lilinette, but aside from that, you've been rather difficult. She was not mistaken. I do have to stop by the palace before reporting back to Aizen-sama. So, please, if you would not mind, could you simply call forth your bankai now so we can finish this quickly?"

Nanao drew her small blade out from within her sleeve then gently laid it on the charred remains of Yamamoto's desk.

"Your intelligence is not incorrect. I do prefer to rely on kidō. If you wish to fight me, it will be without my weapon and without bankai," she replied in a steely tone.

Sun-sun gave her a look of supreme annoyance. "You are either extremely arrogant or extremely stupid. I respect neither trait and therefore I cannot respect you as an opponent," she stated harshly. "I had looked forward to meeting you, Ise Nanao," she said with a sad shake of her head. "I thought I might perhaps find an intellectually stimulating adversary worthy of fighting. I'd hoped to see you bring forth your bankai as a tactical advantage in the midst of battle. Surely that was the reason you have been so hesitant to rely on it prior to this point. Surely you simply did not want those subordinate to you to see your real power revealed and therefore reserved it for only the most deserving of opponents. Yes, that would be a tactic suitable for the intellect I hear you possess. Instead, I see nothing more in you than complete stubbornness. If you will not bring forth your bankai of your own volition, I will force it out of you or kill you in the process. Either way, I will have accomplished my duty," she finished calmly with a mild trace of regret.

Sun-sun's triple-pointed sai flashed pink and she raised it high above her head. Its light reflected in her yellow eyes. Nanao prepared herself. She glanced at her zampakutō. She would not rely on Morrigan now. In the future she might, but not now. There was something to her power that was important to Aizen, and by no means would she demonstrate that to Sun-sun before discovering it for herself. There was hope for her terrible power, and she could not afford to risk whatever advantage she had by revealing that now. She turned her eyes towards Sun-sun and allowed her hands to fill with a growing kidō ball. What Sun-sun could not see was the fact that there were really two energy balls, one in front of the other. She might know to expect such an attack from Aizen, but knowing something theoretically was far different from experiencing it.

A split second before Sun-sun expelled her energy blast, Nanao released the first kidō shot. Without an incantation, the binding spell was not as powerful as it might normally be coming from Nanao, but it was still effective and, more to the pont, it took Sun-sun by surprise. The blast split into three beams and pierced through the Fracción. Nanao quickly recited the incantation for sōkatsui and released the second energy blast. Multiple beams of reiatsu struck Sun-sun, giving Nanao enough time to chant and form the tornado-like attack that made up tenran. She saw Sun-sun's eyes grow in horror as tenran approached. It would not kill her, but it would leave her incapacitated and allow Nanao to increase her attacks.

At the last minute, a yellow blast sliced through the tornado. Two more female Arrancar stood by Sun-sun. Presumably these were the other two of Halibel's Fracción, Mila-Rose and Apache.

"What are you doing?" Sun-sun cried angrily as Apache knelt to pull her up.

"Shut up and get on your feet!" Apache shouted.

"We have to return," Mila-Rose responded as her large, Amazonian frame faced Nanao and prepared to attack.

"I have to finish this fight!" Sun-sun snarled.

"Halibel has entered a fight with a shinigami captain. We must distract and annihilate his lieutenant. The mission has changed. Report what you can when have finished," Apache stated. Sun-sun looked away. Nanao surmised that Sun-sun was often the leader of the three, and disliked having to take a subordinate position at this time. However, she did not argue in a situation where Halibel was involved. Nanao found this interesting.

"What do we do with her?" Mila-Rose asked, indicating towards Nanao.

"If we cannot observe her power then we must try to eliminate her. Stark has already sealed the bankai. If she tries to call it forth, she will die." Sun-sun looked at Nanao with cold eyes. "Unfortunately, she must have realized this as she refused to call it forth and even discarded her zampakutō. We will have to kill her ourselves before returning to the real world."

The other two nodded and stretched out their hands. Sun-sun followed suit. Nanao incanted a spell for protection, but there was little she could do against a triple cero at such close range. She flew backwards into the wall. As she struggled to keep conscious, she heard a large tear forming.

"We have to go now," Mila-Rose said quietly.

"She isn't dead yet!" Sun-sun hissed.

"Get over it," Apache stated. "Halibel needs us. Besides, she is no threat to Aizen-sama now. Stark did our errand for us. There's no need to stay."

Nanao felt Hinamori's spirit energy enter a moment later. Her arms wrapped around Nanao and helped pull her into a sitting position against the wall she had crashed into.

"This is turning into an unfortunate habit today," Nanao commented as she winced at the pain searing through her from the burns covering her body.

"Will you be all right?" Momo asked as she knelt and looked in Nanao's contorted face.

"Yes. It only knocked me back for a moment. I can heal this pretty quickly. Have they gone?"

"Yes," Momo replied. "With your leave, I… I would like to go after them."

Nanao turned to look at Hinamori's face. There was an unstable fierceness under the calm exterior. Sensing hesitation, Hinamori stood and went to the desk. She returned with Nanao's zampakutō and held it out to her.

"Test me if you will. I know where my loyalties lie. Let me help the ones I have betrayed. I feel I will be of better use down there than I am up here."

Nanao looked for a long time at Hinamori's face and the determination in her eyes. With a sigh, Nanao picked up the small blade but then lowered her arm.

"You do not need me in order to prove yourself. Go ahead, and I hope you are successful."


	12. Chapter 12

**I think I'm just going to forgo predicting when I'll update :oP. I say "I'll try to update soon" and then update weeks later. Then I say "it might be a while before I update again" and I realize that there's still another chapter I can do. Maybe I'll think of another soon too. I already have a few more ideas. **

**I hope you like this one! Those up to date with some of their traditional Celtic lore might find this new aspect of Morrigan familiar. I've obviously taken certain liberties for the story, but certain parts are inspired directly from mythology. Anyway, enjoy :o). Finally getting to some of the important meat of the tale. Let me know what you think!  
**

Chapter 12: Revelation

At first, Nanao thought she was losing consciousness after all. Dark splotches danced before her eyes. And yet, she felt perfectly cognizant. Had her brain been damaged in the attack, though? The office around her faded away and instead she found herself in a clearing within a black forest. An indigo sky loomed overhead. Morrigan stood directly before her. Her back was turned and she was looking down into a stone pool. Nanao understood the location now. She was in Morrigan's world.

"Is this wise?" Nanao asked calmly. As long as she was in this realm, her body and potentially Seireitei itself were defenseless.

"The Arrancar have gone. The Gillian are contained. The battle in the real world has climaxed to a point that it requires a retreat from those Arrancar entrusted with preparing Soul Society for invasion. Karakura is secure. Seireitei is secure. The palace is secure. You have done your part for the time being. It is time for me to do mine." Morrigan turned around. There was something different in her demeanor. Most of the time that Nanao had encountered her Morrigan had been taunting and cold. She could now see Morrigan's attitude came from insecurity or at least from discomfort. Within her own world, though, a quiet assurance enwrapped Morrigan. She even had a contented smile playing on her black lips. There was still an element of mocking to her, but she was, at the very least, comfortable here.

"Have you decided upon a different approach?" Nanao asked as she crossed her arms.

"By bringing you here? In a way. It is much harder to ignore me, isn't it? But actually, I think you are ready now, whereas you were not before. Things are so much simpler here, don't you think? All you see is all there is: trees, sky, water, ground… your world has so much stimulation and confusion you forget what is really important. Here things are much clearer. There is less to distract you."

"Is what Sun-sun said correct?" Nanao asked, changing topics. "Is my bankai sealed?"

Morrigan pursed her lips and turned back to the pool. "That I do not know. It is entirely possible but I cannot sense anything one way or the other. It is true, you might die if you attempt bankai, but I do not know for certain."

Nanao sighed and sank down to the ground. She lightly tapped her head against the tree at her back.

"Then it almost doesn't matter if it _is_ sealed or not. The effect is the same. The only way to tell for certain is to risk my life."

"That's often the way of it."

"How would you know?" Nanao scoffed.

"I know why Aizen fears your bankai," Morrigan said over her shoulder with a knowing smile.

Nanao sprang to her feet.

"What is it?"

"Well what does it matter?" Morrigan replied with an innocent voice. "Even attempting it might kill you, so why bother?"

"I bother because it might save everyone else!" Nanao insisted as she charged forward to face Morrigan.

"Wrong!" Morrigan snapped. "You bother because you have to know! You can't bear not knowing what it is! You hate me and you hate your power because you don't know what it is. You understand so small a part of it and you fear it – you fear what you don't even know!"

"After years of seeing only the destructive and invasive aspects of my power, I finally start seeing _some_ indication that there might be something good to it! It's the most hope I've had in a long while! If it takes Aizen down, all the better, but I have to know!"

"Even if you can't do anything about it?" Morrigan demanded as she stared intensely in Nanao's eyes. "Even if just _trying_ to use it could kill you before you even had a chance to actually make any good come out of it?"

"I need to know what it is!" A pleading note began to creep into her cry.

"Why?"

"I just need to know!"

"_Why_?" Morrigan demanded. Nanao paused before answering. She slowly sank to the ground.

"I need to know there is good in me. I need to know that there is good that I can do. I need to see that the basest part of me is not just some all encompassing need to know everything, no matter the cost to those around me."

"What if there isn't?" Morrigan asked coldly. A long beat followed. "Wouldn't it be better to not know at all then?"

Nanao could not answer.

"Even then… I need to know," she finally said in a broken tone. Tears streamed down her face. Contented, Morrigan turned back to the pool.

"Stand up."

Nanao stood.

"Take this."

Nanao looked. Morrigan was holding the raven up to her. Nanao's brow creased and she looked confusedly at Morrigan then again at the bird. Morrigan slid her thumb down to reveal that, in this world at least, the raven and the human were separate entities. Nanao held her finger out and the raven perched on her hand.

"Look before you, Nanao," Morrigan said in a soft voice.

Nanao looked in the pool. With a gasp she looked again at her hand. The raven stood there serenely watching the image in the water. Nanao looked again. In the reflection, she saw herself and Morrigan to her right, but the raven had changed. There was no bird. There was another woman standing behind Nanao on her left. She was tall and thin with dark hair piled high on her head and an austere look to her.

"I don't understand what I am seeing," Nanao finally replied.

"Think."

"You are both Morrigan, aren't you?"

"_We_ are Morrigan. Together, we are Morrigan."

Nanao looked into the pool for a long moment.

"_I_?"

"You form one of our triad," the one Nanao was accustomed to calling Morrigan replied. "We are a circle. We are unique, and yet we are also united."

Nanao's eyes darted from one face to the other. She realized then how similar they were in appearance. True, the raven Morrigan was far taller than either Nanao or the other Morrigan, but they all had similar features. Nanao had focused so long on the differences between herself and the Morrigan she knew that she had never noticed the vast similarities in appearance.

"Know now that powers, whatever they may be, are nothing more than raw materials," the raven Morrigan continued. Her voice was melodious and light. "They do not create the person you are. That is determined rather by how you use them, and how you use us. You are the primary power for now, and we support you with what we have. If you wish to be good, then be good. If you wish to be evil, then be evil. The decision is made by you, not for you."

Nanao felt ready to cry. For much of her life she had felt very alone. In this instant, though, she understood the role of one's zampakutō. It meant you were never truly on your own.

"But do not become too relaxed," the other Morrigan warned. The raven woman raised a hand to her head. What Nanao had presumed was an elaborate white hairpiece to accompany the beautiful woman's elegant appearance now came down across her face as a mask of bone. "We are here to help you, to test you, to make you stronger… and to overcome you if we must."

Fear rippled through Nanao. She breathed deeply several times before looking again at the raven.

"I will not become lax," she said in a determined voice.

"Do you understand what this means?" the Morrigan to her right asked intently.

"It means my powers, at least in part, are Hollow powers," Nanao replied evenly. "It is part of me." She swallowed sharply. "But it will not become me. It is a power to have, to use or refine or leave alone as I decide."

The image in the pool faded. Nanao was left with the raven on her hand and Morrigan the woman to her side.

"Now that you have accepted this, do you better understand your power?" Morrigan asked. Nanao's brow knit and she reviewed what she already knew.

"It is knowledge. And it is somehow related to death."

"And battle as well. The talents you released before are particularly geared towards tactical planning. You have the ability to move stealthily, to hide your spiritual presence, to see battles from afar. You are perfectly suited for the role you now have. That is not your true power, though. That is not why Aizen wishes you dead."

Nanao considered Morrigan's words for a moment. She felt she somehow knew what the answer was. It was just out of reach, and yet so close and nearly tangible. What was she missing? What was she not realizing quite yet that her subconscious had already latched onto?

"Aizen's power lays in illusion and deceit, even against those opponents who know to expect it," Nanao rationalized slowly. She paused and her eyes grew wide. She stared at Morrigan in shock.

"If I can force truth and knowledge…"

"Now perhaps you can understand why the power to cut through illusion and magnify reality is so threatening to him?" Morrigan asked lightly.


	13. Chapter 13

**Well, the truth is I had most of a chapter ready to go weeks ago. However, I couldn't quite finish it and it seemed that it wasn't time for it yet. It's a definite change in the storyline, so that will now be postponed to the next chapter. This is a short little vignette that I've had in my head for some time now, and I realized this might be the right time to draw it in. Besides which, I missed Shunsui. It's time for a bit of his unique levity. **

**I'm so sorry it took so long to update - I thought I'd have the next chapter done in time to tell you all about the writing challenge, but now that's passed :o(. I'll do my best to let you know about the next one with plenty of forewarning next time. My apologies, especially to those involved with the writing challenge. I hope you enjoy the chapter; I feel like I'm back on track to keep going. The next chapter IS almost finished after all, and you'll see the return of a couple characters from "Preparations." Happy holidays everyone and a Happy New Year!  
**

Chapter 13

Reminiscence

As Nanao pondered this new piece of vital information she suddenly got an intense longing for her captain's relieving presence. He was lazy, overprotective, sexist, difficult and annoying, but he was also her comfort. She'd dreamed of this opportunity to lead, but now that she was in it she longed to lay the responsibility aside for just a little while. In his hands, she knew that somehow he'd manage to work everything out as it should be. He was exasperating, but efficient in his own way. She realized now the complete confidence she had in his decisions. She might not agree with them all, but she trusted his instincts more than she trusted hers. But did he trust his choices the same way she did? Did he have the same quiet confidence that things would work out the way they were supposed to simply because he was in charge? It was an odd thought. What if he was as uncertain as Nanao, at least from time to time?

She thought back to an episode of long ago. She was little more than a teenager and had not been vice-captain for very long. They were taking new recruits out on a hollow extermination expedition. Their team was the final string and merely the last resort. They were not expected to see action that day. Nanao could not help but express her disappointment and irritation at having her crew, whom she had trained and worked with, pulled back like this.

"My Nanao-chan is pouting," Kyōraku had said.

"This is merely my normal expression, captain."

"Uh-huh, your normal pouting expression. Relax, watch the other teams. See how they're doing. Note what they need to improve on. Knit them scarves if you want to. As for me, I'm going to take a nap."

"A _nap_, Taichō?" she snapped. He blinked at her in surprise.

"You say that like you've never seen me do that that before in my life."

She huffed in reply.

"We are in battle, Kyōraku-taichō! We may not be physically fighting, but we should at the very least be prepared!"

He glanced at the troops around him for a moment. "And, are we not prepared?"

Nanao stamped her foot. "You are the commanding officer of this group! Some of them may even wind up joining your very division! Even if they don't, they should leave with the impression that a captain of the Gotei 13 will stand with them with a mind focused and ready for battle."

"So you want me to lie to them then?"

"_No!_ I want you to _be_ that way. It's not fair that we're placed back here. We're at least as ready as the other groups that went forward. We've trained and prepared just as much, if not more so. We should be at the front lines, but instead we've been left behind with the vague promise of fulfilling our duties should the others fail. That's enough of a blow without having to see you lie down and nap."

"Ah, so now we are at the real root of the problem. It's not my occasional need for repose that has you so upset. You know what this means, don't you?"

"Taichō–,"

"It means I was right!" He interrupted. "You _are_ pouting! Awww, my kawaii

Nanao- chan's upset, but it's okay because her big, protective Shun-kun will be here to comfort her. Come, be enfolded by my loving arms!"

He was rewarded with a heavy bonk from her book and the pleasure of watching his young adjutant stomp angrily away.

Some time later, when the bump had receded, he sought her out. She was standing on the edge of a nearby cliff and watching the other groups at battle. He stood next to her for a moment.

"Quite a juxtaposition, don't you think?"

"Hrm?" she replied offhandedly. He gently reached over to grasp her chin and raise her head. Her eyes left the battle below to see the brilliantly orange sun sink below distant hills. She was stunned by this beauty that she had somehow missed.

"Do you know why we're the last string, Nanao-chan? It's because out of everyone we were the _most_ ready. It's not the people at the front lines who need the nerves of steel, it's the ones watching. When you're at the front and the battle has yet to begin, it is easy to be caught up with the adrenaline and the excitement. Sure, you might be scared and might even be tempted to run, but there are enough people around to make sure you have no choice but to do your duty. Granted, those are the ones who are usually killed first. But the ones at the front lines don't always see that. They might see the people around them fall, but they miss the larger picture. They miss seeing the vast destruction. They miss seeing how their individual participation is either helping or hurting a campaign. It's the rear flank who sees it all. They're the ones who experience battle the most – both through observation and eventually through participation. There's no one behind them to make sure they keep their lines. There's no adrenaline seeing them through. Look at them now, Nanao. Look at their eyes. They see now what this is all about. This is different from training in small groups in a classroom setting. They're part of a unit, and they are seeing people they know and people who might not be any different from them dying and being hurt. But they are ready to go forward because that is their duty. Do you now understand the honor of bringing up the rear? They're not the weakest – they're the strongest."

Nanao pondered this new perspective as she watched the battle. It did make a lot of sense.

"It's not easy being last, Nanao-chan, that's why not just anyone can be there. And they are ready – if they weren't, I certainly wouldn't be thinking of taking a nap, I can assure you that," he added with a wink.

Now, back inside her inner world of purple skies and black trees with Morrigan standing before her, Nanao thought about her current situation. Here she had a new piece of information, one she'd never thought of before: she had a means of disarming Aizen's most powerful asset, his ability to deceive. There was always the fear that, even knowing about his zampakutō's power, one would still fall under his control. Nanao's bankai could neutralize this particular trick, though. She might not be able to defeat Aizen on her own, but at the very least she could even the playing field. She understood her significance in an entirely new way. Was this perhaps why she'd been kept to the sidelines for so long? True, her ability only worked against those with the power to hypnotize, but in this lone situation, that was exactly what they needed. For so long she'd stood back and watched as everyone around her fought. Her captain never let her approach the front lines. She thought he was simply protecting her. Perhaps there was that too, but the truth was that she had still learned from observing. Starting with her being left in charge of Seireitei's defenses, though, there was no sideline to slink off too. She _was_ the front line, even if she primarily led through creating tactical strategies. And, in the end, everything might all come down to her.

Nanao looked up at Morrigan, who for some time had been watching her

nervously.

"Removing the seal could kill me?" she clarified.

Morrigan swallowed and nodded. "And even then, you might not even succeed. You could die trying, or perhaps there could be nothing at all."

Nanao thought for a moment. "It's a risk worth taking. I have to try."


	14. Chapter 14

**Yay, two in one day, how's that? Hope you like the shift. Please let me know what you think!**

Chapter 14: A Change in Venue

Nanao screamed. She felt an enormous pressure flowing throughout her and a searing pain emanating from her arm. Morrigan screamed at her to stop what she was doing, but by then Morrigan's world was fading away from her. The blackness from the dark forest surrounding the fountain slowly overtook the purple sky and Nanao was left in dark. Whether she lost consciousness – for what seemed like the thousandth time that day – or not she didn't know. However, the darkness faded and Nanao found herself in a cold sweat and heaving as her eyes blinked at the comparative brightness of Yamamoto-sōtaichō's office. She felt a firm and comforting hand under her head.

"Ah, good, she's awake. Put her back down, Yoshi before she sees you and has a heart attack," a gravely voice said from somewhere behind her. Nanao looked to see whose hand was supporting her head. Her breath caught in the throat as she saw her captain's face. As her eyes focused a little more, though, she saw that the face was a little squarer and the hair was distinctly different. Moreover, the gravelly voice had called him "Yoshi." Yes, of course, this was Yoshitsune, her captain's older brother. Disappointment coursed through Nanao and slowed her quickened heart rate. The battle in the real world continued. Of course her captain could not come to find her. He was busy fighting Stark… if indeed that was still occurring. So much had happened to her in the course of a single day that Nanao could hardly register time anymore.

"Sit up, sit up," the grating voice said again. Nanao felt her arm being picked up and her back being forced into a sitting position. She ran a hand through her sweat soaked hair and then quickly moved to cover her mouth as she lowered her head between her knees.

"Shh, shh," the voice said. "Nasty little trick there. Good thing is that it keeps you from killing yourself. Is your curiosity satisfied?"

The hand at her back was simultaneously comforting and unnerving. Nanao did not have to look up to know whose low, occluded voice was murmuring to her. Although she was accustomed to a level of harshness from this woman, apparently this was the nurturing side to Baba, Kyōraku-taichō's childhood nurse.

"What are you doing here?" Nanao managed out as soon as her stomach felt like it would not relieve itself of its contents.

"No time for that. Yoshi, pick her up and let's go."

Out of the corner of her eye Nanao watched the tiny woman waddle towards the doorway. She cried out a moment later as she felt Yoshitsune pick her up.

"Stop it! I can't leave here!" she cried and pushed against her captain's brother. Her vision swayed and she felt her stomach churn again, but still she pushed.

"P, Please Ise-fukutaichō! Just calm down for a moment! We'll explain everything but we really should get you out of here!" he cried. Nanao responded by blasting a shot of kidō into his chest. He released her in shock and she dropped heavily to the floor. Baba waddled back and kicked him deftly in the shins.

"Baba! She _hit_ me! It's a reasonable reaction!"

"Oh be quiet, you little weakling! She can barely hold her head up straight. That couldn't have been worse than a mere pinch!"

"Well then it's a pretty severe pinch, considering it burned straight through my clothes!" Yoshitsune argued in response as he rubbed the lightly tinged pink circle of skin left from Nanao's attack. The effort had cost Nanao a great deal. She had barely enough strength to keep herself propped up as she wretched and fought to keep her body under control. Baba pursed her lips and observed her for a moment. Then, with a decided air about her, she stepped over and knelt in front of the weakened lieutenant. She grabbed Nanao's shoulder and manipulated her around to look up at her. Although she was still wearing her glasses, Nanao could barely make out Baba's face in front of her.

"Okay now listen girly. You fought against a powerful seal and tried to break it through sheer willpower. Lucky for you we got here and snapped you out of whatever la-la land you'd gotten off to. This is dangerous stuff and needs some big help to get rid of it. Can't do it on your own, and that's all there is to it. Now you settle back and let Yoshi do what I tell him to and maybe we'll manage to get this darned thing off of you and maybe even save your life while we're at it. Understood?"

"I can't leave," Nanao said breathily. "I was left in charge. I can't leave."

Baba straightened up and grumbled unhappily. She tapped her foot and looked around the room. Spotting the Seireitei model she puttered over and glanced at it very carefully. She picked up some of the pieces and listened to the low voices transmitting through them. She slowly walked around the model and looked at it from every angle. She looked meaningfully at Yoshitsune and then back at Nanao.

"Okay, girly, here's how it'll be: you're going with us. That's not negotiable. And considering you can't even stand, there's not much point to arguing. Oh, you can singe Yoshi's fine duds, but you can't lay a finger on me and that's just how it is. But you seem to have configured this here thingy to help you. We'll take it with us and you can keep doing your job, but under no circumstances – _no_ circumstances – are you to tell Shunsui what we're about to do. Okay?"

Nanao simply squinted at the woman and tried to make sense of her words. Baba turned without waiting for a response. She hardly seemed like the type of woman to wait for someone to agree to her terms anyway. She chanted an incantation and the space around the model started to glow. Nanao's eyes grew large. This was an advanced transportation kidō spell. In her lifetime, Nanao had met only a handful or two of people who could do this. Even she was still working on correcting her technique to make it work properly. Her focus was so transfixed on Baba and the spell that she did not notice when Yoshitsune came over and grabbed her. She gasped, but did not fight back as he lifted her over his shoulder and went to stand by Baba. Within a few moments they were gone and Nanao found herself in an unlit, windowless wooden room.

Yoshitsune set her on the wooden plank floor as he walked over to Baba. Nanao breathed deeply. She did not know where they had moved to, but she could breathe easier and her head was starting to clear. The model stood to her side and she could make out the figures still moving about. This was an absolutely top rate transportation spell. Nanao had little expected such an advanced level of kidō to come from Baba, but considering how often her captain had surprised her, why should his family be any different?

"Baba, why here? Wouldn't the manor have been more appropriate? It's far easier to hide there."

"Hush up, Yoshi. Your mother would have had a conniption if she'd found out, and I have a feeling little miss girly over there will prefer being here," Baba jutted her chin in Nanao's direction. Nanao pushed herself into a sitting position and then slowly raised herself up. Her eyes were adjusting and she was starting to see some of the dark room. Chinks of light appeared through the wall behind Baba and Yoshitsune. They outlined a large sliding door.

"Where are we?" Nanao asked. She started to edge forward and then bumped into a heavy piece of furniture directly before her. She could only make out that it was relatively boxy. Her hands darted over it but she was unable to determine the object. Yoshitsune opened the door. Sunlight poured in. Nanao winced as she looked out onto a small pond with overgrown grasses and reeds all around. She then looked down at the piece of furniture that had stopped her progression through the room. She blinked several more times in astonishment. She circled in front and then around to the other side. Directly in front of her was a grand piano. She looked up at Baba and Yoshitsune, her mouth agape. As she did so, her eye saw several glints throughout the room. All sorts of instruments, some European, some African, some Japanese and Chinese and some Nanao could not identify were littered haphazardly throughout the room.

"Shunsui never did learn to pick up his toys," Baba said disapprovingly with a shake of her head.

"This is Kyōraku-taichō's house?" Nanao asked breathily. She gazed around her.

"Yes, although he tends to stay in the barracks these days. At one time, he spent the majority of his time here, but that was a long time ago," Yoshitsune answered sadly.

"Why?" Nanao looked up to see disappointment on the elder Kyōraku brother's face.

"He never answered me when I asked. I think it's because it reminds him too much of our childhood home. Ever since our sister's death, he has avoided that part of his life," Yoshitsune replied glumly. Nanao nodded. She had recently learned of the existence, and death, of the younger Kyōraku sibling, Kana. In an unfortunate series of events related to criminal doings by her father and uncle, Kana had been unjustly accused and killed. Her son by the former king still lived and had recently left the palace to join the Kyōraku household where he might someday be named Yoshitsune's heir, should he give up his tenuous claim to the throne. The boy was annoying at best, and had come to develop a rather irritating attachment to Nanao and her backside, but Nanao knew that keeping him safe was vitally important to her captain; it was the one last thing he could do for Kana. With the threat to Soul Society's king, keeping the young prince away from the palace was the surest way to keep him safe. Even so, Nanao supposed she had to make sure.

"Is Itakeru-sama well?"

Yoshitsune glanced at her out of the corner of his eye then turned to look out over the small pond. "Well as can be expected. My mother dotes on him, and, unlike her two sons, Itakeru-sama loves to be doted upon. It's a magnificent arrangement."

"Does he have any desire to return to the palace?"

"Not yet. He is paid far better attention at my home than he was in the palace, and he stands to gain far more by becoming the Kyōraku heir than waiting to see if he, youngest of the royal princes, would become king."

"Have you observed any threats to the palace?" Nanao asked in what she hoped was a nonchalant voice. Baba noted something in her tone and gave her a curious look, though.

"No, nothing. It's guarded to the hilt and I've seen more shinigami wandering around the gates in the past couple days than I have in my whole life. I don't think anything will get through those front doors anytime soon," Yoshitsune replied.

Baba snorted. "Of course not! But any halfway smart invader wouldn't go for the doors. How do you think I got in to get Itakeru-kun out of there in the first place? Just went up and knocked? What kind of idiot did I raise you to be?" Her face contorted into a sour look. Yoshitsune looked properly chided. Nanao's brow knit together.

"What do you think the weakest spot is, then?"

Baba thought for a moment and stroked the three small hairs poking out from her chin. "That'd take a pretty detailed study to tell for certain, but for starters I'd say the water tower, the food supply, the servants quarters on the eastern side – possibly the western side too if you were hard pressed, kitchen's got a few loose floorboards that suggest a hidden exit, should I go on?"

Nanao glowered at her through her glasses and shook her head. Baba's time infiltrating the castle under the auspices of getting Itakeru out was certainly not poorly spent. She was a born spy. She probably couldn't help all that she observed. Even so, without seeing these weaknesses for herself, Nanao could not tell which were likely to fall, if any. Moreover, there was a strict line of demarcation between Seireitei and Soul Society's nobility. Palace defenses were left to palace guards. Any attempt to interfere in their comings and goings could instigate a war. For the time being at least, there were few interactions between the shinigami and the palace. Beyond Nanao's meager added defense to the front walls, there was little she could do.

"Well for the meanwhile, let's focus on your seal, hrm?" Baba asked as she drew her short legs under her and looked keenly on Nanao. "Now, what happened?"

Nanao sighed. "I attempted to use my bankai, but it was not fully formed yet. I abused my power on an enemy. Her master came and he must have sealed my powers as punishment. I've just now realized its full potential, and how significant that could possibly be in the battles to come. Even though I knew removing the seal could kill me, I decided it was worth the risk. If everything else fails, then the fate of Soul Society could come down to me." Nanao gulped as the realization of her responsibility came over her again.

Baba exchanged glances with Yoshitsune. "Ya know, I really hate all the little, unnecessary details people cloud up their stories with, but in your case a bit more exposition could be useful. Now quite being vague and just tell us what you're trying to hide!"

And she did. Nanao told them about the fears she'd had over her powers, her attempt at bankai, her attack on Lilinette, her encounter with Stark and finally her brief battle with Halibel's three Fracción. She held back on the revelation she'd had with Morrigan just before Baba and Yoshitsune had drawn her back from her inner world. However, there was a look in Baba's eyes that suggested to Nanao that little of this was surprising or new information.

"Kyōraku-taichō asked you to look after me while he was away, didn't he?" she asked. Yoshitsune's eyebrows rose in surprise, but Baba's expression did not change at all.

"When you were off helping that white-haired captain friend of Shunsui's, that Lisa girl forced him to confess that you had some sort of special ability that could be quite useful in fighting his former comrades. He wouldn't reveal what it was, and she certainly didn't know, but I could tell that somehow it was significant enough that it was important you stayed safe. I've been checking on you every so often since he left. Today has been a bit of a roller coaster, young lady. Your power and vital levels have plummeted time and again. You must have one skilled healer taking care of you. For the most part you seemed to be holding your own fairly well against your frequent guests, but this final time I could tell that you would die if we didn't interfere. When I saw you weren't fighting anyone, I could tell there was a seal and you were just trying to push through it with sheer force. Typical for a young person," Baba snorted. "Thinking you could just break a power blocker through willpower and determination. When will you kids learn about subtlety and finesse?" she asked in an exasperated tone.

"The important thing, Baba, is whether or not you can break it! It's important – I _have_ to achieve and control my bankai!"

Baba tightened her lips and squinted at Nanao. "No. But I can help you do it. In the meanwhile, go and cook something, Yoshi, I'm starving."


	15. Chapter 15

**Ohisashiburi everyone! That was quite a lapse of time. The major issue was that I realized that I'd made a very large blunder. I'd forgotten that the captains who went to Hueco Mundo were accompanied by their vice-captains. But, in my story, those fukutaichō are all still in Seireitei. I'm so surprised no one pointed that out to me. The intriguing thing is, Nanao's the only fukutaichō that hasn't been accounted for yet, well, unless you count Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum from 13. So, who knows, perhaps there's something interesting coming up for her in the series! **

**I wasn't entirely sure how to move on when I realized that. There wasn't really any way for me to go back and fix that and, really, if I had then it would have made the first part of this story extremely boring. There needs to be other people for Nanao to have conversations or else it's all self-reflection, which gets old so fast. So, I've embraced my mistake, and now I'm continuing on with my alternate universe. One advantage is that I don't have to keep waiting to see what will happen in the manga all the time before I can figure out what to do with my story. I'd still like to more or less keep to it if I can, but, well, if I've got Nanao in the middle of something in Seireitei and the manga suddenly reveals she's joined the battle (which would be a very stupid idea, since Seireitei may as well be defenseless at that point), I might just ignore that in favor of keeping my version going. **

**Sorry to those who have gotten antsy. I appreciate everyone who has kept up with this story. Hopefully the next installment won't be so long in coming. Please let me know what you think - I love getting reviews!  
**

Chapter 15: Trust

As the younger Kyōraku brother had not lived in this residence for some time, aside from an inordinately large sake collection – which was to be expected – there was no food to be had and Yoshi soon left, muttering under his breath. Baba puttered off elsewhere and Nanao was left alone in the music room. She watched the model for a few minutes and spoke into a few of the pieces. Things seemed fairly stable. The command center was particularly relieved to hear from her, as her reiatsu had blinked out of detection from the moment Baba and Yoshitsune had spirited her away. Baba must have placed some sort of blocking spell around the house, or perhaps Kyōraku-taichō had long ago established one. Nanao elusively informed them that the sōtaichō's office had been compromised and that she had relocated to a more protected area. Satisfied with that explanation, the two sides signed off. There didn't really seem like there was more for Nanao to do at the moment, which was a mixed blessing. On the one hand, if there was a new invasion she was completely cut off from her officers but could still command from the model. On the other, depending on what Baba had in mind to help her remove this seal, she couldn't risk being incapacitated in the midst of battle.

Nanao's eye curiously glanced around her. Light from the setting sun bounced off bronze trumpets and silver flutes strewn about the room. Still, the most curious element was the grand piano stationed only just to her left. Leaving the model, Nanao circled it suspiciously. She'd been shocked that her taichō had managed to find a single piano in all of Seireitei – but to have had two? Clearly he must play, and yet he hadn't touched the upright in their office since he placed it there. Was he waiting for Nanao to go first? Perhaps he was afraid she would be intimidated if she heard him. Nanao had been a first rate player as a child, but that had been a very long time ago. In comparison, Kyōraku seemed to be skilled at nearly everything he touched. Could he sit down and magnificently play a sonata Nanao had once struggled over? Could he instantly compose a piece of pure beauty without considering tempo or key signature? Jealousy surged in Nanao. True, she had nothing solid to found her suspicions upon, but somehow it just seemed consistent with past experiences. Kyōraku-taichō led a charmed life, and it was utterly unfair. Nanao had always felt that, no matter how many times he showed her up in terms of kidō or leadership or even philosophy, here was one area in which she'd at least at one point been a genius. To have to acknowledge inferiority in this field as well as all others was something she could hardly face.

Nanao finally recognized something she'd always instinctively known but never recognized: she was jealous and even a bit resentful of her captain. That was not to say that she did not feel her stomach flutter and quiver when he looked at her, but in some ways that only made it worse. She'd fallen in love with someone she would always feel inadequate and inferior to. It was a humiliating acknowledgement. She respected and admired her captain and his skills, but at the same time, before her now lay evidence that no matter what she did, she would always fall short of him. Even when it came to things like paperwork or organization in which normally no one could fail but to acknowledge Nanao as superior – the truth was, it wasn't that Kyōraku was incapable of or even unskilled at doing office work; he was merely lazy. The few times Nanao managed to get him to do anything, he'd been surprisingly efficient. That only made things worse.

Nanao turned and blinked away tears. As a vice-captain, it was reasonable to find your captain capable of things you'd never imagined. In fact, you generally hoped that was the case. From the perspective of a lover, though, the never-ending disparity of skills and talents was tiring. Nanao signed resignedly. Perhaps it was just as well she'd come to this realization that she would never be Kyōraku-taichō's equal. He almost certainly wouldn't be able to look at her the same way once he found out about Lilinette, and Nanao knew it wasn't something she could keep from him.

Not sure what else to do, Nanao rummaged through a small pile of music, selected a piece, sat down and began to play. When tears blocked her ability to see the notes, she simply started making things up. In terms of the Arrancar invasion, the day had been a success. To Nanao, though, she felt like a massive failure. Not only had she abused her powers, she'd managed to get them blocked just before she finally found their redeeming quality. It was bitterly disappointing. In her mind's eye, she kept imagining her captain's shocked face when he found out what she'd become in the course of his brief time away. She could see how his eyes would slowly droop as he accepted the truth and then look away. He'd put a hand on her shoulder or make some other comforting gesture and tell her that it was all right, that she'd had no choice, or that he was sure she'd considered it the right thing to do at the time. When his eyes would move back up to face hers again, though, the look would simply be hurt and distanced. He'd forgive her, of course he would. However, he'd never again call her his Nanao-chan. He'd probably start doing his paperwork on time. He might even give up drinking every night. He'd become a model captain and treat her with due politeness and respect, and frankly that was something Nanao simply couldn't bear to consider. That, more than anything, would prove to her that as much as they'd once cared for one another, she'd become someone he could no longer respect, and, without that, love was impossible. She wanted to simply collapse and reflect upon her misery and shame. Now that things were somewhat under control, perhaps she could hide away here until the captains returned. There was no escaping the inevitable, though. Yamamoto-Genryūsai would probably praise her and perhaps consider her for promotion, if she ever got her bankai sorted out. However, the one person whose good opinion she craved most of all was the one she felt incapable of receiving.

Her finger slipped and jarringly hit a wrong note. The atonal noise woke her from her depressed reverie. She stopped playing and simply stared in front of her while the teary blur before her eyes cleared up. These thoughts were ridiculous. She had nothing to base them on, and, honestly, it did Kyōraku-taichō a great disservice to come to conclusions and deny him the right to simply hear her out and react as he would. Besides which, these depressing and self-pitying ideas did nothing to solve her current dilemma, which was her blocked bankai.

Nanao stood and busied herself with clearing up the piano area. She forced the negative thoughts aside and replaced them with cold, clear, comforting rationality. It was true that she was inferior to her captain at least with regards to her skill level, but, well, moping would hardly alter the situation. He had generations of experience on her; of course he'd be more capable. Besides, it was in Kyōraku-taichō's nature to try his hand at everything, and he was naturally gifted in many ways. However, he lacked Nanao's tenacity. She did not simply attempt a task to see if she could do it – she attacked everything she did with a temerity few had. Who else had become a vice-captain based almost entirely without using her zampakutō? Who else had discovered her zampakutō's name as a mere child? Who else had flown through the shinigami academy with such speed at such a young age and had gotten a seated rank before even reaching puberty? She was Ise Nanao, and she was hardly the type that would allow herself to be discouraged by another person's innate gifts. She firmly believed that there wasn't a talent in this world that couldn't be overcome or surpassed by the type of single-minded determination and focus she possessed. _That_, in and of itself, was most certainly a skill no one could surpass her on, not even Kyōraku-taichō.

Feeling much refreshed and a little chided, Nanao turned her attention to the rest of the room. She deftly placed instruments in their cases, gathered broken strings, and quickly set up arranging order and neatness in this cluttered room. This was an old coping trick of hers she particularly made use of in her youth. When confronted by confusion and doubt, she cleaned. In addition to helping her work out panicked tension, she was restaging her mind even as she reorganized the space around her. Soon, her mind and soul mirrored the order and function in her captain's music room. He might not appreciate her efforts but, well, it helped her in the short run and he could easily help the room revert to its former messiness. Besides which, this was hardly the first time she'd barged into his life and tidied things up. He had to be used to it by now.

Nanao surveyed the room around her then walked over to quickly scan the model. Everything still seemed in relative order. She pulled her glasses off to give them a quick clean and pulled her hair clip out to reset her twist. After a quick straightening of her uniform, she turned and left to find Baba. It was time to work on removing this seal. Baba might not necessarily feel that mere willpower was the appropriate means of bursting through this type of blockage, but that willpower would ensure that Nanao _would_ find out how to release her bankai powers. She did not accept defeat.

Baba was sitting by the pond soaking her feet and rubbing dead skin off. She looked up when Nanao walked through the doorway and approached her. Nanao could tell that she sensed the change in attitude, but still neither said anything until Baba had stretched her toes out and dried them on a towel beside her. When she'd finished, she stood and began waddling towards the house. She stopped when she got to Nanao's side.

"Now, mind you, I don't abide with any wishy-washiness. If you've got your mind made up, then that's that. We don't go back and forth on this, are we clear?"

"I am determined," Nanao replied evenly.

"Good, cause if you give it a moment's doubt, you're probably dead."

"I have no doubt in my mind."

"And even if you don't, you might still end up dead," Baba said slowly as she watched Nanao carefully.

Nanao straightened her shoulders and looked Baba straight on. "Do you suggest another option?"

She screwed her varied wrinkled into a grimace as she thought. "That healer captain, she'd be good to have around. But, she's not here, and the longer we wait, the harder it is to find the edges of the seal. Soon it'll disappear entirely into your body and we won't be able to tell where you stop and it begins. It'll be nearly impossible to unlock your bankai then. Some might be able to do it, but I dunno how they would."

Nanao thought for a moment. "Waiting for the captains to return could use up whatever time I have left… and even if they could help me remove this seal, that's still assuming we won't be under attack. We could be in the midst of the very barrage where my bankai is most needed, and I won't have access to it at all," she mused. Baba busied herself with cleaning out her ear.

Nanao looked keenly at the shorter woman. "Do you _know_ how to remove this blockage?"

"Mm, like I said, you could end up dying even if you do everything right. But yes, figuratively at least, I know how to pry it off. Course, it wouldn't be _nearly_ so difficult if you hadn't let him seal your bankai like that." Baba gave her a pointed look.

"I didn't le-" Nanao began than stopped and swallowed. "I thought he'd kill me, and I was all right with it. In some ways, the seal seemed like he was sparing me."

"Yeah, he probably made it sound that way too. Maybe he even was. Point is, it's not just your bankai, it's your whole power source. It's like breaking a bone – the seal _will_ heal over and it'll be twice as strong. Problem is, it'll heal whether you reset it right or not, so it could end up being a problem. Once the seal has set in, bankai is out of the question and the scars could edge into your regular kidō. Heck, you might even lose your zampakutō entirely."

Nanao felt her throat go dry and she swallowed hard. "They wouldn't let that happen."

"Who, the zampakutō?"

"Yes. They've made that clear to me. I don't think a seal will stop them. If anything, it will give them the excuse to overpower me."

Baba grunted approvingly. "Might even be the reason they decided to attack you that way. Why kill you when they can turn your powers to serve them as a Hollow, eh? Didn't you indicate this was something that could potentially be used against that Aizen guy? I'm guessing you're not strong enough to defeat him, just maybe disable him. That right? Well, if you're that concerned about it, you must be the only one known to have that power… which means that if he's got you working for him, then he can use you to defuse anyone else with powers similar to his, so then he'll be unique too, right?"

Nanao's eyes grew wide as she blinked at Baba. It had all seemed to random, that Stark had sealed her bankai as punishment for her attacking Lilinette. But… was it possible that this had been prearranged? What about Halibel's Fracción? Hadn't Sun-sun wanted to kill her? But then… now that Nanao reviewed the situation, Sun-sun had known very little directly. Her orders had come not from Aizen but from Halibel. Was it all a show to distract Nanao from noticing just what the seal had done? Had Sun-sun really been trying to push her into calling forth her bankai in order to have the seal kill Nanao? Or… perhaps the seal was meant not to kill Nanao but to demonstrate to Morrigan the person and Morrigan the raven that Nanao was no longer in control of her powers. Was this whole thing not simply a reaction to Nanao's actions towards Lilinette? Was this all a larger conspiracy?

Nanao ran a hand through her hair then looked wildly at Baba, who was watching her carefully.

"You say I could die even if I do everything correctly… do you actually mean I'd die or do you mean I'd become a Hollow?"

Baba shrugged. "Is there so much of a difference? You become a Hollow, chances are you'd be eaten and your powers absorbed into an Arrancar almost straight away. Maybe you'd die before turning into a Hollow, but if your power is that determined to be fulfilled, then it probably won't let you die quite that easily."

Nanao sank to the grass below her and hid her head in her hands with a groan.

Baba pursed her lips unhappily. "I told you-"

"I know, I know, no wishy-washiness. I assure you, I'm not changing my mind, just recognizing some of the consequences a bit better," Nanao interrupted.

Baba watched her for a few moments more before speaking again. "You know," she said slowly, "it wasn't Shunsui at all who asked us to keep an eye on you."

Nanao looked up at her.

"It was that Lisa girl. I think she understood your power was splitting. She became a Vizard through outside intervention. The only one known to have successfully breached that gap on his own is that ryoka kid everyone talks about. I don't know about him, but comparing what I've felt of his reiatsu with yours, I can't quite see how you'd make that leap on your own. It's shinigami or Hollow for you. I think Lisa could tell the choice was coming."

Nanao removed her glasses and rubbed the muscles between her eyes. "So, the circumstances are worse than I thought: if I fail, not only will I not be able to use my bankai against Aizen, but he might end up using it against the Shinigami. This is brilliant."

"Mm," came Baba's unsympathetic response. "Well, shall we begin?"

Nanao looked up at her. "Just like that?"

"The way I see it, it happens one way or the other sooner or later. If it doesn't work out now and you become a Hollow, well, better now when there are others around who can slay you if need be before Aizen gets to you."

Nanao narrowed her eyes. "You seem awfully persistent in this."

"Well then fine, we won't do anything and you'll just find yourself losing control when it's too late to do anything. Fine by me, girlie."

Nanao shook her head violently. "I'm not saying that at all. I'm saying that I'm going to think about how to best do this. Perhaps I should bring in some of the other vice captains."

"So you can possibly kill them if you turn into a Hollow and therefore lessen Seireitei's defenses even more? What an intelligent suggestion, no wonder Shunsui keeps you around," Baba bit out sarcastically.

"I may not have a great deal of time, but I am _not_ rushing into this!" Nanao stated firmly.

Baba grumbled and stomped into the house. She shut the sliding door behind her with a bang. Nanao sighed and looked out over the pond onto the wide stretch of land before her. The sun had already blinked away behind the distant hills and the sky was nearly all indigo. Night was nearly there, and she wanted to make sure she was ready in case there was a new invasion under cover of darkness. However, she found herself in an odd predicament. Her understanding of the situation had certainly changed drastically, but now she found herself doubting all around her.

Was she right to trust Baba and Yoshitsune so implicitly? They were her captain's nurse and brother, but even he only trusted them so far. He knew their faults and limitations – he knew when to follow their advice and when to ignore it. Nanao did not. It was pretty clear to her that she had only trusting them up to this point because of their connection with her captain. However, she had trusted Stark because of his similarity to Kyōraku-taichō. She had accepted his chiding whole-heartedly. She _had_ allowed him to place the seal. This suggested to Nanao that her captain was a significant weak point. The trust she placed in him should not be extended in its entirety to those with a connection or a resemblance to him. She had to admit as well that she was attracted to Baba's interpretation of Stark's intentions because it removed a great portion of Nanao's culpability; Stark would have come whether Nanao had attacked Lilinette or not. Maybe he'd exaggerated her condition in order to emotionally cripple Nanao. Well, that had certainly worked. But was it true or not? It was preferable to believe he'd lied and that Nanao hadn't really injured Lilinette at all. But, in some ways, that was beside the point. She'd been ashamed of her actions even as she did them. She could not allow herself the easy way out.

Nanao found herself in the unpleasant circumstance of not knowing whom to trust or to what extent. She needed to remove this seal; that much was clear. But how should she do it? If Baba stated she had a way, then perhaps she should go ahead and attempt it. It was better than doing nothing. But, if Baba was lying or mistaken, well, what then? Had Nanao rushed into something with irreversible consequences on paltry evidence? Nanao was so used to doing things on her own, it was hard to blindly place her faith in a near stranger like this, but could Kyōraku-taichō's beloved nurse really be called a stranger? But then, just because she was his nurse hardly gave her qualified knowledge about how to remove an Arrancar's seal. Nanao wasn't sure what to do. Reason told her both to and not to trust Baba so much. It was a quandary, and Nanao didn't have the time for lengthy debate.


	16. Chapter 16

**Well, I think that time off was a good break to revitalize the creative juices. I've got the next section or two more or less mapped out, so hopefully I'll be updating regularly once again. In the meanwhile, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm very curious to see what people think! **

Chapter 16: Instinct

Nanao stood by the model and tapped her chin. Something was not quite right. She had decided to go ahead with Baba's plan for unsealing the block on her bankai, whatever it was. However, she had the nagging feeling that something else was needed. The horrible part was that she wasn't sure what, and no one seemed willing to tell her just what that might be. Baba had turned a cold shoulder to her the moment she'd reentered the house and had made it more or less clear that until Nanao came around to realizing that Baba was right and she should just do as she said, she wouldn't be saying a peep to her. As for Morrigan, well, she (or they? Nanao was still not sure what tense to consider her zampakutō in) was back to being her typical, sullen self. Nanao tried once again to pry her into materializing, but all she got for her pains was a snappy "I'm tired. Leave me alone." Nanao was alone on finding what felt like a missing piece of the puzzle. It seemed like it was right in front of her, if only she could figure out just what it was.

A moment later, it occurred to her: the solution _was_ right in front of her. She didn't entirely know how or why this step was needed, but she instinctively knew that it was. She gathered up the shōgi pieces of the remaining vice captains and the two third chairs from thirteen. She briefly gave them orders then went off to find Baba. She sent a silent "thank you" to the various captains who had conveniently enough left her nearly all of the most powerful female kidō officers. Perhaps she had been a little premature in allowing Hinamori to go, but there was nothing she could do about that now.

Nanao found Baba in the kitchen straightening her captain's cupboards. For all her air of being thoroughly occupied in what she was doing, Nanao knew she'd been waiting for her. Nanao cleared her throat.

"I am ready to try to remove this seal. However, I've called for the remaining members of the Shinigami Women's Association to gather here, so I'll need you to remove the protective barrier around this house, if you can."

Baba finished her task and then slowly turned to look carefully at Nanao, her lips pursed. "They'll all be aware of what you've done," she finally said. "They'll see your weakness. You'll lose your reputation, and possibly their respect."

The old woman had shrewdly identified one of Nanao's biggest fears. Nanao blanched, then squared her shoulders and look Baba directly in the eye.

"I know. However, I think my pride has been enough of a hindrance already. One of the other fukutaichō's noted that my secrecy was enough to make me suspect of traitorous activities, and she is correct. I think… I think it's time I try to stop trying to do everything on my own and trust my colleagues," she followed with a hard swallow.

Baba watched her closely for another moment, then tottered past her into the music room and squatted. She began the kidō spell for dismantling the protective shield. Once that was finished, Baba stood and placed her hands on her hips.

"Well, I tell you girly – I didn't know if you'd ever come around. Seems like you're a bit too willing to do whatever anyone tells you to do, provided they insult you a bit first. Whether they're right or wrong, they're playing on your insecurities. About time you start listening to your inner instincts; I was afraid you were going to mess everything up! Now, there are no men coming, right? You weren't that stupid, I'm hoping."

"No. I informed the remaining male leader that he was to keep watch and notify us here should anything happen."

Baba grunted and stuck her head out of the sliding door. "Just a bit past twilight," she murmured. "That's good, gives you a bit more time. Still, it could be a bit tight." She turned and gave Nanao a piercing look. "You _do_ know what you're doing, don't you?"

Nanao was lost. "I… no, not really. I'm not even sure why it's important to have the other members of the Women's Organization here, I just know that it is."

Baba gave her an exasperated look and stomped over to the middle of the room where she started to make measurements and markings on the floor with a bit of chalk.

"You don't know _why_ it's important? You can't quite discern that one, Ms. 'Cannot-live-without books?' It's because yours is one of the preeminent female energies that exists in the entire world. You haven't heard of Morrigan before this?"

Nanao was taken aback. She'd certainly read stories of Morrigan and the triple goddess, but she'd never assumed that her zampakutō could have anything to do with them.

"Th, that can't be. _That_ Morrigan is from another part of the world, from a completely different mythological setting! That doesn't make any sense."

Baba simply rolled her eyes and continued with her markings. "It doesn't make any sense? It makes complete sense. Take what you know of your 'mythological' Morrigan and compare it with the one that supplies your powers. They're not so different. Mind you, not all of the stories record her quite correctly. Sometimes she's given other names or other identities or connected with stories that she simply has nothing to do with at all, but in some respects, at least, the tales you may have read should have the essentials more or less correct."

Nanao simply shook her head disbelievingly. She'd never really even considered how her zampakutō had a name in common with the famed Celtic goddess. She reviewed what she could remember from reading about Morrigan a long time ago. Numerous vignettes flitted through her head, but few seemed right. The Celtic Morrigan was a goddess of death, among other things, which did correspond with what Nanao's Morrigan had told her. She was also often connected to battle, which also at least tangentially fit. There was something else, though, that Nanao was having trouble remember. There was a symbol or some such that seemed fairly important but that she simply couldn't remember. With a sudden burst of realization, she slumped to the floor.

"_The raven_," she breathed.

"Ah yes, Morrigan's other form," Baba commented with a smile and a nod.

"And the triple goddess? Is it three goddesses or just her?"

"You tell me."

Nanao thought again and realized she had that answer too. "There are three, but they're all Morrigan. There's the humanlike form, the raven and me."

"Yes. Some people believe that they are supposed to be different ages… the girl, the woman, and the crone, but those are variations of the same idea. I think Morrigan takes on those roles from time to time as well depending on who she appears to. She's a little tricky to understand, you see."

"But how… how could a goddess possibly be my zampakutō? She's supposedly a reflection of my soul, and I'm hardly a goddess."

Baba simply made a face. "They always complicate things like this when they try to come up with easy explanations for first year students at the Shinigami Academy. Yes, the zampakutō is a reflection of your soul. However, where did it come from? From you? Yes, in part. But also from other sources. Zampakutō can be reborn, you see. They're never the same, but they usually retain some of their most basic functions and habits. Look across the world of mythology and you will find stories with much in common. People might try to tell you that it's just a reflection of a shared human condition, but that's just poppycock. The similarities are because the gods and heroes from different cultures and stories are often the same beings just given different settings and different storylines. Morrigan chose this name when appearing to you for the first time, but she could have chosen a dozen others that you might or might not have known. The fact that she picked a name you should already be familiar with suggests that she wants you to know precisely who she is. Do you understand?"

"Only a little," Nanao said breathily. "But how do you know this? How did you know her name was Morrigan? I didn't tell you that, and I don't think Kyōraku-taichō knew either!"

"Shunsui is bright and intuitive, but when it comes to some of the most obvious things, he is utterly clueless," Baba said mournfully then looked meaningfully at Nanao. "I knew about Morrigan nearly the moment I saw you. My own zampakutō recognized her from another time when the two knew each other well. She's told me all about her. And what's with that look? Huh, you think a person can't have a zampakutō without becoming a shinigami? Well, that just shows you how wrong you are! If a person has the talent and the instinct to listen to herself, she can do anything, whether in a school or not. I wasn't about to subject myself to that oppressive environment when I knew I could learn a lot more on my own! Mind you, it's mostly done a world of good for Shunsui, but that Academy is so strictly bound to its own books and teachings that it doesn't encourage its students to just listen to their own zampakutōs anymore! If you'd done that a long time ago, you'd be in a much different setting, young lady!" Baba said passionately as she jabbed a crooked finger in Nanao's direction.

"You know how to do such complicated kidō by _instinct_?"

Baba shrugged slightly. "Shunsui may have shown me a thing or two on his breaks from school, but that doesn't take away from my point that you shoulda been listening to _yourself_ rather than a bunch of whosiwhatsit teachers who only pretend to know what they're talking about because they're blathering and repeating what _their_ teachers told them! Now come over here. Your friends are arriving, and we don't have much time to lose. Your powers are strongest at night; once it starts to get the slightest bit light, you'll find it harder and harder to come back. If the sun's rays reach your body before you've finished, it'll be near impossible to return. Now, lie down in this circle."

Nanao did as she was bid just as Isane, Kiyori, Nemu, and Yachiru entered from the open doorway.

"I, Ise-san, what is happening here?" Isane asked uneasily.

"No time for lengthy explanations," Baba snapped. "Sit around the circle. Your friend's powers have been sealed and she has to go on a spirit quest to remove it. It's dangerous, and she only has until sunup to complete it. She'll need all the extra power she can get. So, if you don't mind, sit yourselves down, do as I say, and we'll begin."

Yachiru eagerly plunkered down onto her knees and looked closely at Nanao.

"Mmm, she doesn't look any different. Scary four eyes bossy lady seems the same to me," she said disappointedly. Nemu also knelt down for inspection.

"The seal would then appear to be internal. Exploratory surgery may be the best way to uncover it."

Yachiru clapped her hands and exclaimed eagerly. "Let's do that! I want to see the seal! Does it have lots of funny, red markings?"

Isane chewed her lip and looked pensively between Baba and Nanao.

"It's the shoulder wound, isn't it?" she finally asked. Nanao took a deep breath.

"Yes," she replied evenly.

"You weren't responsible for its healing so quickly?"

Baba snorted. "Probably a special technique to make it harder to remove. Definitely clever. Anyway, _sit down_. Time's awastin'."

"Just a moment," Isane said. Nanao felt her stomach drop. Isane was possibly the strongest kidō user in the group outside of herself and Baba. If she was going to declare that she felt betrayed and lied to and that she wouldn't help, Nanao didn't feel that she could make it through it was this spiritual journey entailed. All Isane did, though, was to keenly regard Nanao for a few moments, look around her surroundings, and then turn to Baba.

"You're trying to capitalize on the power of yin, aren't you?"

"Finally! Someone who understands how this universe operates a little bit. Yes, hers is a feminine power, so yin is most appropriate. We're also lucky in that it's getting towards the end of the year, so we have winter and darkness in our favor as well. Also, there's water just outside the door and we're in a bit of a valley, although it would be much better to be in a deeper one. Still, we have most of the classic yin qualities here, which should aid her progress."

Isane nodded. "We should have shadow too. Is that what you need our added kidō for?"

For the first time since Nanao had met her, Baba looked thoroughly delighted. "Yes, the light from our combined kidō should cast a shadow over her, helping her go into a trance state."

"It's a good plan, particularly if hers is a strong female power."

"One of the strongest there is."

"We should get started, then. Dawn will come sooner than we think." Isane squatted down on the circle Baba had marked and directed the other three officers to likewise spread themselves evenly around Nanao. With Baba at her head and Isane by her feet, Nanao watched the two make blazing blue diagrams in the air above her. Nemu did the same and she was soon followed by Kiyone and Yachiru, who, while interested, was already distracted by what Kyōraku might be hiding in the instrument cases along the far wall. Baba started an incantation and it spread around the circle. However, from the moment the first syllable was uttered, Nanao could not make out the words. She felt herself drifting away into a hazy state of mind until finally she fell asleep and seemed to be dreaming.


	17. Chapter 17

**This is a shorter chapter, but important. It deals with some complicated and, to some, perhaps some rather outlandish ideas. By now, you're probably starting to notice some of my areas of academic interest, which naturally will seep over into just about any storytelling. As it is a story, though, I should note that there is certainly some artistic license going on here. I had no idea that the story would head in this direction when I started, but somehow this seems like the natural direction to go in given what's happened before (with both the manga/anime and with my stories) and what needs to occur. I really hope you enjoy it. I look forward to your feedback!**

Chapter 17: Journey

Nanao found herself walking through Morrigan's world again. After listening to Isane and Baba's conversation, she found herself understanding the setting a bit better. As before, she was walking through a black forest, whose dark limbs were outlined against an indigo sky. A full moon offered the only light, although it struck Nanao that it had been only a sliver when she had been sitting by her captain's pond. Undoubtedly the difference in moon phase was significant, but she wasn't entirely sure how. The forest, the dark and even the earthen path below her and the fountain straight ahead were all standard representations of "yin," one of two primordial forces of nature and the opposite of yang. Femininity was also considered to be a "yin" trait, and in that way it was unsurprising therefore that Morrigan, a tripartite goddess considered to be representative of womankind, lived in such an environment. It still confused Nanao to think of her power existing in this strange overlap of Celtic and Chinese mythology, particularly since she'd never been very interested in religion or the occult. For all that yin and yang seemed straightforward and precise, there were actually extraordinary overlaps between the two. Supposedly the forces were constantly in motion, changing from one extreme to another in an attempt to keep balance. Nanao preferred thing that were static, finite, determined. Those laws and principles were unchangeable and therefore reliable. She had to admit that she was less than happy to realize that her power was so tightly intertwined with something so very unpredictable and uncontrollable.

As she approached the stone fountain, Nanao heard an intermittent creaking coming from down a path she hadn't noticed before. She wandered down it and heard the creak turn into more of a squeak as she neared whatever was making the sound. It turned out to be a swing, upon which a little girl with black braids and purplish blue eyes was swinging. Nanao stopped and watched her for a moment. Back and forth she went, always reaching the same altitude and never tiring.

"Darkness cannot exist without light," the child said when she noticed Nanao standing by her.

"Of course it can. What happens if you're in a dark room with no light source? Then it is dark and there is no light."

"You would not notice the darkness without knowing the light. Otherwise it is nothingness."

"Well then, by that same logic, light cannot exist without darkness," Nanao argued.

"Precisely," the child answered and then turned her head away from Nanao. The conversation was over. Nanao simply shook her head and continued along the path. She came upon another girl, a little older than the previous one. Her face was different, but she had the same features as the previous girl and, Nanao realized, as herself as well. This girl was sitting and pulling daisies. The flower's white petals, though gray in the night, shone out like beacons against the black backdrop. The girl was braiding them together and singing to herself. Nanao waited for this girl to speak talk to her as well, but she never looked up. After a moment, though, Nanao started to make out some of the lyrics of the low melody.

"If I wandered a hundred years, would the road ever end? If the road ended, would my journey stop as well? No, my child, for my path exists on air alone. I pass through mountain and valley, water and fire. I live and breathe, but am not alive and cannot die." She stopped and looked at Nanao. "What am I?" she asked blankly.

Nanao was taken aback. "Wind, I suppose."

The girl held up her braided bouquet and looked at it wondrously. "Wind, I suppose," she murmured and then disappeared. This encounter shook Nanao even more than the first one had. She recognized a few of the references in this song, though. As with the previous girl, she had mentioned opposites. Nanao now had a list of three: light and dark, mountain and valley, and water and fire. Not surprisingly, these could all be divided into yang: light, mountain, fire, and yin: dark, valley, and water. What was the significance of wind? It moved through all of these, was that the point? Wind wasn't confined to yin or to yang? Nanao concentrated. She'd studied the Western elements in her various books – water, fire, earth, air. However, yin-yang was Chinese, and in Chinese geomancy there were five elements – water, fire, earth, metal, and wood. Fire and wood were yang, water and metal were yin, and they shared earth in common. What about air, then? She hadn't read anything about air in Chinese geomancy… unless, well, there was ki, of course. Ki, or chi in Chinese, was the essence everything possessed and shared, whether alive or not. Not coincidentally, "ki" and "air" shared the same written character. Therefore, it would make sense for ki not to be an element – it wasn't one particular "thing," as everything had ki. Nanao stared at where the girl had vanished. Had she been wrong to say wind, then? Was she not really wind, but rather ki? Had Nanao answered incorrectly?

With nothing left to do there and eager to stay away from the squeaking swing she could still hear behind her, Nanao continued forward. The moon did not penetrate as deeply here, and soon Nanao could barely make out the path in front of her. As she was engrossed in her thoughts, though, this little mattered. She started questioning everything, particularly in connection with her powers. Her shikai could disperse a triple energy blast, which she'd assumed was pure kidō. Was this wrong, though? Was it really a blast of ki? But then, what was kidō anyway? The characters translated to "demon way," but what if that was someone's misunderstanding of ki? Instead of the character for demon, couldn't the character for air have been used there, suggesting this was really the way of ki the energy source? Nanao felt a cold sweat come over her. She was in the realm of metaphysics, and she felt extremely uncomfortable. Still, assuming her hypothesis was correct, this could explain why she'd always been so gifted in kidō: she was full of yin. However, with her meager understanding of ki, she knew that there should be a balance with yang. Pure yin was unstable.

She thought back to what Morrigan had told her after her disastrous attempt at bankai. Morrigan had said that Nanao had long been out of balance, and now that she'd let go, her internal pendulum had swung too far the opposite way. Where was she now? Given her moods in the last few hours, Nanao guessed that she was still in a state of flux, going back and forth between stages. Where was her equilibrium? Where was her yang?

As she pondered this, she suddenly stopped and laughed aloud. Her voice echoed through the vacant woods, but she couldn't stop. It all seemed so ridiculous. The standard traits of yang were sun, heat, masculinity, positivity, mountains, day, light, summer and the like. If Nanao was yin, then Kyōraku-taichō was most certainly yang. What an odd thought, yet at the same time it seemed to fit quite well. This wasn't to say that her captain's power was the male equivalent of Morrigan. However, yang traits did seem to suit him extremely well. And, as Nanao had for so long tried to fill in his gaps and in some ways counterbalance his traits, it made sense that she had built herself into a perfectly yin person. She _was_ out of balance. The common romantic might come to the conclusion that her only point of equanimity might be around her captain as his would be around her, but Nanao dismissed that thought straight off. Her captain wasn't perfect, but he did not seem to have the same difficulty vacillating between extremes or being stuck in one force or the other as she did. He wasn't all yang; he had some yin too, which she could see in the quiet moments. Equilibrium did not come by combining two entirely opposite forces, but by balancing those forces in oneself. Nanao could not look to her captain to balance her; she had to balance herself.

The path soon began to lighten and she found herself circling around to the fountain again. Both Morrigans were standing there in their human forms. Nanao stared at the one who had formerly been the raven. This was the first time she had seen her embodied before her and not merely as a reflection in the pool. Her wavy black hair and stately figure were as beautiful as ever but Nanao could not help but cautiously eye the Hollow mask perched atop her head.

The Morrigan Nanao was accustomed to speaking with stepped forward.

"Much of this process does not involve a physical battle, but rather mental preparation and understanding. You seem to be nearly ready."

"Are we going to remove my seal now?"

"Yes," came the answer. "But first, you have to die."


	18. Chapter 18

**Ooh, the chapter you had to go through so much reflection to finally get to! Enjoy! Please review and tell me what you think!!**

Chapter 18: Transformation

Nanao blinked several times. "Sorry, but I thought the point of my coming here was to remove the seal _without_ my dying."

Morrigan shrugged. "What is 'dying' really except for a transformation? A life form to another life form, an ending and a beginning. We are three parts of a whole, but we transition from one stage to another. You heard the old woman tell you of the story that we represent the three stages of womanhood: young, middle and old. We do, although it may not seem obvious by our appearances. For a long time now, we have remained in a single phase, waiting for you to grow up and prepare to transition into your new role. We are tired of waiting while you ignore us and stay completely unmoving. We were starting to lose hope until we felt the recent change in you. Your iron walls started to come down and we finally began to see signs of growth. That gave us strength to hold out for a little longer that you might finally understand who and what we truly are. We each of us _must_ move to our next stage. If we don't, the spirit of Morrigan cannot reside in this vessel and survive. We will either force a transformation by relying on our Hollow powers, or destroy the body and find a new third counterpart."

Nanao looked at her in horror. "I never knew."

"You never asked and tried not to listen," the Morrigan with the Hollow mask said, stepping up alongside Nanao and leading her to the pool. "Hurry now, we're running out of time. When we transition, a great deal of power will be released. During this time, you may be able to pry away the seal if you can find its edge. The transition will not last a long time, though, as the two of us have been ready and prepared for quite a while. We will do our best to help you move into your next form so that you can concentrate on finding the seal, but you do need to be aware of what is happening. If your mind is too detached during this pivotal time, you could find yourself separated from your body and unable to return."

"Transition is a powerful but dangerous time," the other Morrigan said with a shiver.

Nanao looked at the three of them in the pool below her. This was something she had not bargained on.

"What will happen with the transition?"

The Morrigans looked at each other and the one with the mask answered.

"You currently occupy the space of the young woman. You will move into the middle space, she will become the raven and I will become the youth."

Nanao's eyes grew wide and she looked at her. "I'm becoming middle aged?" At this, the shorter, ponytailed Morrigan rolled her eyes.

"Don't be ridiculous! Do you think _I_ look middle aged? We're not talking about a physical transformation, at least not for you! We're talking about stages of life. For most people, they transition without knowing when it's happening, but rather suddenly find themselves older and more confused than they remember themselves being at one time in their lives. Others remember a pivotal moment at which point they found themselves suddenly ushered into a new stage of life. You will have both. You have been slowing growing and developing from child to woman, but your mind has not fully made the switch into adulthood. This transition will act as that point of transformation."

Nanao let out a sarcastic, bark-like laugh. "No one would ever believe that. I've been accused of being old for my age for as long as I can remember. Do you mean to say that I was more mature as a child than I am now?"

"Don't be absurd! That's another thing entirely. I'm not talking about a mental maturity, I'm talking about an emotional one. For all your outer independence, you're still very reliant on others' opinions. Part of that might not ever go away, but a significant part of emotional transitioning out of youth involves not putting so much faith in what others say. Listen, but don't ignore your own opinions and advice and immediately consider them inferior. We are talking about self-reliance and assurance, the qualities you need most as a leader or as an equal partner in a relationship. Granted, some people go their whole lives and die in their old age without successfully facing that transition. You do not have that luxury. Here is where you potentially face the threat of losing your own soul, but it does not come from us, it comes from your fear of change."

During this time, Nanao had gazed solely at the three figures in the pool. She could not face the Morrigans at her sides right now. She could not argue against what either had said either. She'd maintained a strong, capable exterior for a long time now, but it was a façade to hide the doubts she had inside. The might not ever fully go away, but she sensed that in moments like these, doubt was a luxury she could not afford. Perhaps it was time she laid her insecurities aside to be dealt with another time. Maybe that might not make them go away, but, in actuality, perhaps it would. As far as she could tell, constantly reliving her inadequacies and insecurities had done nothing for resolving them and had only kept them fresh in her mind. Maybe, just maybe, it was time to act and not analyze. That's not to say that she had to rush into any major decisions, but there had to be times in which detailed examination ended and movement began.

Taking a deep breath, Nanao nodded. "What do I have to do?"

"You can trust us to take care of most of it. Close your eyes and wait for the feeling of release. When you feel free, search for the seal. It's not exactly physical, but more of a mental block that must be peeled away. By this time it should be smooth and even, and therefore nearly impossible to find. You only have a few seconds, and perhaps a minute at the most. That will give you very little time to find it, as the removal process could take some little while. You must return here before the transition is finished, or you will be shut out and our trio will be incomplete. At that point, we will have to leave you and find a new host for the sake of our survival. Without us, we're not sure what will happen. There are one of three possibilities: your body and spirit will die, you will survive but your shinigami capabilities will be lost forever, or an innate Hollow power will consume you," the Morrigan with the Hollow mask replied.

Nanao breathed heavily. There were dire stakes, but there was no other option. Beyond the Morrigans' words, Nanao could instinctively feel that they were correct. She took another breath and look at both of the Morrigans.

"I'm ready," she said and shut her eyes. Power surged from either side of her, and almost immediately Nanao felt as if her soul had been shoved away from her body. It was an extremely odd sensation, considering that her "body" was back with Baba and the others. Even meeting with the Morrigans in their realm like this could be considered an 'out of body experience,' so how did one describe an out of out of body experience? Considering the little amount of time she had, Nanao decided this was a question that could be grappled with at a later date.

Uncertain what to do, she tried to skim through her mind to find this seal. It was, however, like one of the Morrigans had said – nothing sprang to mind as out of the ordinary. Everything was smooth and still. However, that struck her. _Everything_ was not completely smooth, and neither should it be. It was like running your fingers over your skin – at first, there might not seem to be any anomalies, but after a moment you realized that the entire surface was marked with hairs and scars and moles and imperfections. That was the point. Imperfections were the road signs of your life. Nanao skimmed again, this time taking time to notice the rough spots. They were not the foreign bodies there; it was the solitary smooth area she could mentally feel that was the alien. It was as new and perfect as fresh snow. The only way to get to the rough surface below was to somehow lift it. However, simply identifying the seal was only the first step to a problem. Being so smooth, Nanao could hardly find the edge needed to pry it away. Pushing against it seemed to have no effect. Neither did trying to press through and puncture it. It needed to be scraped away, but how could she do that when she didn't quite know where it started?

As she waited, she felt the changes happening with the Morrigans. Panicked, Nanao realized she didn't have much time. She found a spot where it felt like her mind's natural texture was just about to give away to the seal. Bearing down, she dug in and pulled as hard as she could. She felt both the smooth area and part of what she could only describe as her mind's fiber ripping away as she mentally yanked. Once she had what seemed like a corner or so off, the rest came easier. Even though this was essentially a cognitive seal, she was amazed that it didn't really seem all that big; but then, in this case, size was certainly relative. As soon as she felt the smooth section tear free, she dropped it and hurried back to the Morrigans, hoping fervently that she wasn't too late and that she'd found the proper seal and not just done herself some sort of permanent, irreparable damage.

Both Morrigans were waiting for her. They looked more or less the same, although the one with the Hollow mask seemed shorter and a bit more wide-eyed, and the cynical one that Nanao was accustomed to dealing with seemed perhaps a little more wizened with sharper features. Nanao hurriedly came and took her place between the two. There was a flash of light and the next thing she knew, she was gasping for breath and gazing up at blazing blue pentacles above her.

"The stasis, hurry!" Nanao heard Baba cry. She was suddenly covered with a heavy kidō spell coming from five women kneeling around her. Nanao cried out as a large energy burst emitted from her. She could just make out that, on either end of her, Baba and Isane were raising their arms and redirecting her energy up and out through a newly formed hole in the roof. It was soon gone and Nanao lay panting heavily.

The stasis faded and both Isane and Baba seemed winded themselves.

"It's the combination of the transition and the freeing of her bankai," Baba explained between heavy breaths. "Still, must be nice to know all that power's in there if you ever need it, eh, girly?"

Nanao lay still for a while longer. "My head hurts," she finally said when she could speak.

"Well, sure, you just pulled off the mental equivalent of a scab, leech, and charred flesh combination. You probably ripped your power a bit too. It'll take a little while to repair itself, but you should be better soon. Good timing, by the way, sun's up and the rays were just coming this way. I figured you'd have another five minutes or so, but just as well you didn't wait till the final minute or something," Baba shrugged.

Nanao turned to look at the rising sun. She was amazed an entire night had gone by. It had seemed like no time at all. And, while Baba might think that a five-minute cushion was fine, Nanao was a little frightened by how close she had come to losing the yin power she'd relied upon to both accomplish the transition and remove her seal. Thinking of this, she knit her brow and turned to Baba.

"How did you know about the transition?" she asked.

Baba coughed embarrassedly. "I told you, our zampakutō were friends once upon a time. That's how I knew." Nanao didn't believe this for a moment, but she could at least accept that there were some mysteries Baba might never relinquish.

She turned back to the sunrise. Had she really done it? She'd successfully managed the transition, that was clear, although she didn't particularly feel any different. What about the seal, though? Had she removed the right piece or had she gotten it entirely? Was there any way to know without calling forth bankai and risking its potentially disastrous effects? Nanao knew this was something not even Baba or Morrigan could tell her.

Kiyone suddenly gasped. "O Nee-san, the barrier! I told Kotsubaki we'd be in communication with him by dawn! I don't trust that monkey-headed booger to manage things all on his own!"

Isane quietly stood and went through the motions to eliminate the barrier which, Nanao surmised, had kept all male energies out during her journey, including poor Yoshitsune, who was sleeping in the field just outside the house. The head of the Kyōraku clan was clutching food ingredients and drooling slightly as he lay covered in dew.

Just then a voice crackled through the Seireitei model loud enough for all present to hear.

"_Ise-fukutaichō_! Please come in! I repeat, two pillars have fallen! _Karakura is returning to the real world_!"


	19. Chapter 19

**Oh life, interfering and making me have to do other things. Sorry for delay again; I had a good part of this chapter finished and then had to leave it to pursue other things, like finding a job :oP. I hope you enjoy this direction! As stated before, I have a somewhat good idea in mind of where the story needs to go from here (for the next couple chapters at least), and it should definitely be picking up! **

**As ever, let me know what you think!! I love your reviews!  
**

Chapter 19: Battle for Karakura Begins

Nanao shunpōed faster than she ever had before to Karakura's location outside the edges of Seireitei. She'd considered going to the command center in the twelfth division, but she was afraid there was no time for an update quite yet. She needed to be at the center of the action to see what was happening. As soon as she arrived, she did indeed see that half of Karakura had turned ghostly invisible and seemed to have stretched downwards out of sight below Soul Society. Midway through, she saw the fake Karakura crisscrossing the real one so that its far end now settled on the edge of Seireitei. As the other vice captains appeared around her, Nanao fumbled with the shōgi pieces she'd barely remembered to grab.

"Akon!" she shouted into one. "What is the status?"

"The remaining pillars are stable, but the other two have completely crumbled. We only had the one spare, which has already been used. If we try to construct another out of reiatsu, it probably won't be strong enough to resist efforts to destroy it again."

"Then we can't rely on reiatsu," Nanao mused as she stood thinking. She then turned to Nemu.

"Get me the Ikkanzaka brothers." Nemu shunpōed away while Kiyone eyed Nanao suspiciously.

"Jirōbō hasn't been seen or heard of since he lost his powers to that Quincy. Wouldn't one of the other gate guardians be preferable?"

Nanao gave her a withering look. "All but Jidanbō rebelled and fought alongside Aizen. One even lost his life. Meanwhile their replacements are small and weak. I need physical strength, not spiritual."

Kiyone swallowed and stepped back, embarrassed. Nanao shifted uncomfortably and adjusted her glasses.

"But it was a good point, Kotetsu," she conceded.

While waiting for Nemu to return, Nanao used her increased vision from Morrigan to look down into the real world to see what was happening. Straight away she saw Yamamoto-Genryūsai reinforcing a wall of fire. Soifon was in the midst of battle with an Espada, as was Hitsugaya. Komakura in his bankai form was slowly lumbering forward. She next saw Kyōraku bracing both swords as Stark barreled down on him. For the most part, she noted with relief, he seemed fine. Ukitake was fighting with Lilinette, although Nanao was intrigued to see that his method of fighting was less a serious battle and more a playful training exercise. Meanwhile, Lilinette displayed absolutely no outward sign of ill effects from Nanao's attack. That buoyed Nanao's heart a little, but it sank a moment later as she saw the rest of her comrades. Hisagi and Iba were fighting two Fracción and Kira was hurriedly trying to heal Matsumoto and Hinamori, the former of whom was in devastatingly poor shape. To Nanao's calculations, that left the third and fifth seats from the eleventh division to protect four pillars. It wasn't enough. No wonder two had broken. Hinamori and Matsumoto had to be removed posthaste in order to free up Kira to fight, but how could it be accomplished without opening a gate directly into Soul Society?

"I'm going down," she announced and began moving forward until Baba, whom she had not noticed arrive, put a firm hand on her elbow and held her back.

"You're most definitely not!" the old lady barked. "You've got some power that Aizen guy is afraid of but might be hoping to use, and you're just going to walk right down into there and hand it to him? Think, girly! You were left behind here for a reason! Don't go tromping down there because you think you can take care of something no one else can. Send someone else."

Nanao sighed and looked behind her. It was frustrating to be left out of the action, but Baba was right. Besides which, she would most likely get drawn into the action and lose track of what was happening up here. She needed to stay out of the fray for as long as possible.

"Kotetsu Isane, Kotetsu Kiyone, I need both of you. Kiyone, you need to go in and bring back first Matsumoto and then Hinamori. Take them into the partially exposed Karakura and wait there. Isane, you will go into Karakura to heal them. Use as much of the town's spirit particles as possible. It might not heal them as quickly as bringing them to Soul Society would, but it should be sufficient and it may reduce the town's power a little in case Aizen succeeds in taking it. Understood?"

"Hai," the sisters replied simultaneously and darted off.

"Kusajishi-san," she began.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Yachiru interrupted merrily.

"Madame President," Nanao said through clenched teeth. "I believe you were responsible for making sure the Menos had all been exterminated or expelled from Soul Society, correct?"

"Yes!" came the enthusiastic reply.

"And have they been?"

"Mmmm," she replied with a thoughtful glance. "One or two might have been taken to the twelfth for experiments, but the rest were killed straight off."

"Fine. In that case, I want you to stay here and watch. _No one_, including one of our own, may return through Karakura. Use whatever force necessary to keep them from entering unless you have direct permission from me, understood?" It was a bold move, but they could not risk allowing an Arrancar to follow them up. Worse yet, at this point it was impossible to tell whether or not Aizen had succeeded in hypnotizing any of their comrades into turning sides.

"Aye-aye!" Yachiru cried with a salute.

"Baba," Nanao said, turning to the old lady.

"Uh-uh, I'm not some foot soldier you can order about," the old lady said with a stubborn pout.

"Perhaps not, but you do know the castle better than anyone here. Can you watch it for intrusions and then come and find me the moment anything suspicious happens?"

Baba thought about it for a moment and then slowly nodded her head. Nanao sighed with relief and then turned to go.

"But you tell Shunsui when you next see him that this goes beyond the call of nursely duty! You tell him _he's paid back now_, ya hear?" Baba cried as Nanao shunpōed away.

Nanao arrived at the twelfth division's headquarters and quickly spoke with the research division there. She received a quick update on the activities happening on the real world. Nothing had been heard from the group in Hueco Mundo yet. The castle still seemed secure. The only problem that needed addressing as far as could be seen was Karakura. That was a relief. It meant Nanao could focus on that without worrying she was neglecting something else. She briefly outlined her plan to Akon. The research team quickly assembled to discuss the idea. The green, bulbous-headed Hiyosu brought up geological issues while Tsubokura Rin chimed in with reiatsu challenges. Ultimately, though, they came to the consensus that, while it very well might not work, her plan was theoretically possible. That was all Nanao needed to hear.

Nanao rushed to the edge of Seireitei and waited on the Rukongai side until Nemu arrived with the disgraced younger Ikkanzaka brother. She did not have long to wait. Nemu soon shunpōed into view towing the much larger Ikkanzaka Jirōbō by his collar. She settled him down with none too gentle a toss, and the giant simply sat passively on the ground, his uniform torn and hanging loose about him.

Nanao strode up to him and looked up into his drooping face.

"Former fourth seat of the seventh squad Ikkanzaka!" she snapped. "What is the meaning of this inappropriate attire? You have failed to report for duty for several weeks now. We are at war, and, powers or no powers, a shinigami is forever a shinigami with all the duties and responsibilities incumbent upon that position."

His fish-like eyes slowly rotated to take her in. Although each eye was the size of Nanao's head, she simply folded her arms and stared sternly up at him. He was hardly a threat to her, and she'd had experience chiding him in the past. Intimidation was usually extremely effective.

"Forever a shinigami? What separates me now from the pathetic souls of Rukongai?" he muttered bitterly in a low voice that nonetheless came through like a bellow. "Why report for duty when I know there is no duty I can accomplish? Why remind myself that my rank has been stripped? Why subject myself to the scorn of my fellow squad, especially when not very long ago nearly all of them were my inferiors? 'Shinigami' you call me, but I am less than a shadow of what I used to be after that Quincy destroyed both my soul chain and my soul sleep. Why don't you leave me alone? I can't be of any use to you now," he sulked.

Nanao shifted her glasses and folded her arms. "If you remember, there was a full scale investigation launched following the loss of your powers. It was the decision of the committee that you had acted dishonorably towards the ryōka Inoue Orihime and deserving of the punishment metered out by the Quincy ryōka."

He glared at her and pouted further, but did not respond.

"As a result of the loss of your powers, your rank was revoked, but you were not thrown out of the squad. To do so is against our code, as you well know. There are indeed tasks for shinigami who have lost powers or favor, and you have been assigned one of those duties, I believe?"

"Janitor to the south ward's sewers," he spat out bitterly.

Nanao nodded satisfactorily. "Yes, I thought as much. Granted, with your size that cannot be a suitable task, I imagine."

"You got something better?" he questioned with a surly tone.

"As a matter of fact, I do," she replied coolly. "I have a task of vital importance that only shinigami of your and your brother's stature could accomplish. What I am asking of you could turn the tide of our battle, but not without significant risk to yourself."

"What makes you think I'd do it then?" he scoffed as he curled his lip churlishly. "Punish me however you like, I'm not sending myself out to be killed."

"Ah, but you see, it is of _such_ great importance that we're not simply asking you to do it because of your duty as a shinigami. No no, there will be a significant reward in return." Nanao's voice seemed almost to coo as she enticed Jirōbō into her plan. He looked at her warily out of the side of one eye, but it was clear she had his attention.

"In return for successfully doing what I ask you to do, Seireitei will be rather indebted to you and to your brother. You will have proven both your loyalty and your capabilities. Now…I am sure that you are aware that there are some rather complicated surgical procedures that, in some circumstances, can result in restoring a person's soul chain and soul sleep?" she asked lightly.

Jirōbō's eyes bore into her. "Can you do that?"

"_I_ cannot, but Unohana-taichō can. As field captain of Soul Society's defenses, I am entitled to make promises on behalf of the other captains and vice-captains that are law bound to be carried out upon their return to command," she stated directly. In truth, it was a complete lie. However, one advantage of being known as knowledgeable in nearly every archaic Seireitei rule and procedure meant that no one ever questioned Nanao's word on these matters. Most people came to the conclusion that, as Nanao knew and recited the rules, procedures, and bylaws so fluently, she must surely follow every one of them. She mostly did, but she was not above using others' ignorance against them, as in this case. She very much doubted even Unohana-taichō would so much as bat an eyelash if Nanao claimed this was a rule. But then, if Jirōbō and Jidanbō did as she asked of them, they were more than deserving of this reward.

Jirōbō eyed her with suspicious hope, but Nanao knew that it was the other brother she needed on her side.

"Did you understand all of that, Ikkanzaka Jidanbō?" she called out, seemingly to thin air. Jidanbō crashed from apparently out of nowhere next to her.

"We do your task, Jirō-kun gets his powers back?" he summed up.

"That's right. Or, at the very least, he gets the best treatment for that purpose that Seireitei has to offer. Moreover, I promise that if it does not work this time, they will keep trying until his powers _are _fully restored."

"And my rank! I want my rank back too!" Jirōbō cried.

"I cannot make ranking decisions on behalf of another captain," Nanao stated calmly.

"You said you could! As field captain, you said you could and they'd have to do it!" Jirōbō shouted as he leapt to his feet. Nanao swallowed and thought for a moment as both brothers' eyes bore down on her.

"What I meant to say," she stated clearly with a shift of her glasses, "is that squad rankings are completely dependent upon skill level and tests. Your powers may be restored to their full extent from before, but you have clearly let your other skills deteriorate in the meanwhile. You cannot possibly be restored to your position as fourth seat if you are not capable of defeating the person who currently occupies that role. Otherwise, he would beat you and you would lose face all over again. What I _can_ do is to ensure you that upon your feeling ready, a test will be held whether it is during the regular exam schedule or not. That way, you could return to your seat as soon as your powers are returned, should you prove worthy and capable of the position."

The brothers shared a doubting glance with one another.

"You understand, of course, that this is the best offer you are likely to receive," Nanao bit out harshly. "And rejecting my orders will forever keep your powers blocked away. Even should you successfully prove yourself at some other point, the record will show that you selfishly refused to fulfill your duty at a time in which Seireitei needed your unique strengths. You are unlikely to have your powers restored at any time no matter what service you render. Is that clear?"

The giant men shared another wary look and then nodded.

"We'll do what you ask," Jidanbō stated with a bow of his head.

"Good," Nanao replied crisply. "Here is the task: I need you to take one sekkiseki wall each onto the real world and place them where the two pillars have been destroyed. Theoretically, the stone's reiatsu repelling power should act like two same-charged magnets and push the reiatsu-heavy real Karakura town away from earth. It may not fully return to Soul Society, but, if this works, this could be enough to slow down the real town's return to earth. Understood?"

The brothers shared a glance again and Jidanbō stroked his beard with one of his heavy hands.

"Given sekkiseki's properties, that may work. However, it would have to be a big piece of stone for each of us, and sekkiseki stone's the heaviest out there. It's a challenge to even lift it, and you're talking about carrying it and setting it in an exact spot," he said doubtfully.

Nanao turned to the twelfth division fukutaichō standing demurely behind her. "Nemu, go to the research facility and see if they have anything that can make sekkiseki transportation more manageable."

"Hai," Nemu replied and flashed away. Nanao turned back to the brothers.

"Whether she can or cannot help you, I will ask you to attempt this anyway. Even if it causes you injury or discomfort, if this is our only possibility of protecting Karakura, then you are ordered to do it. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Ise fukutaichō," the replied glumly.

"Good," she said satisfactorily. "Now, I will defer to your knowledge of the walls, Ikkanzaka Jidanbō. Choose two same-sized pieces and draw them out. You may prefer to use the gates, if that is easier."


	20. Chapter 20

**Hello! Yes, I am back. Sorry once again for the long hiatus - new job, new city, new challenges associated with moving and all that = no time for story writing. Hopefully things are settling down a little. This one is short, but I have the next chapter tentatively planned out... after that, well, I'll have to do some brain storming!  
**

**Meanwhile, yay! Over 100 comments! That makes me very happy :o). Thanks so much everyone - I love hearing the feedback and the thoughts and guesses people have with the updates. And yes, some of you definitely give me good ideas that I occasionally try to pull in if it really works with the storyline (which they often do). So, keep them coming! And speaking of coming... do you think it might be time for someone we're all missing to finally make an appearance?  
**

Chapter 20: Transference

Nanao returned to the edge of Karakura with the air of satisfactorily brushing her hands before her. They were in considerable danger at this point, but she had a vague plan that could at least temporarily provide a modicum of support… if it worked. Nemu arrived soon after with the Ikkanzaka brothers lumbering behind her. Each supported a magnificent slab of sekkiseki bound with red rope as thick as Nanao's frame strapped over their shoulders. The strain was still noticeable, but it was clear that the red rope, whatever it was, somehow lightened the stone's considerable weight.

"You understand your orders?" she asked crisply. The giant men moaned in response. Even with the assistance of their ropes, their faces were bright red and veins were protruding along their foreheads and necks. Their legs shook with the weight on their backs and it was clear that their effectiveness was limited.

"Well then," Nanao continued, a little disconcerted by their clear discomfort, "Let's start immediately. I will take you into Karakura as far as the two towns intersect and direct you from there. Madame President?"

"Hrm?" Yachiru replied from her crouched position as she keenly watched the town before her, a suspiciously innocent smile playing on her lips.

"You understand your orders? Do not allow anyone, including shinigami, to return without my express permission."

"Hai!" she replied merrily. There was something unsettling in her cheeriness, but Nanao brushed the feeling aside. That was simply Yachiru's way. She turned to the groaning men and beckoned that they follow her.

Nanao had considered several different ways of getting the brothers to the real world, but the sekkiseki provided a considerable challenge. The stone's reiatsu-negating powers threatened to destroy all of the normal means of transit between the worlds, leaving the dual Karakuras the only practical option left. However, just as the stones could theoretically force the fiber of senkaimon gates apart, it could as easily destabilize the real Karakura town. Therefore, Nanao had to bring the brothers in via the fake Karakura town, as there were far fewer spirit particles there.

Nanao felt almost a chill go through her as she walked through the deserted city streets. No one had ever lived in those buildings, and although the traffic lights changed, no one had ever heeded them. This was no more real than the little village displays built around miniature train sets she sometimes saw in storefronts in the winter. The real Karakura with its real inhabitants was stuck suspended between the real world and Soul Society. Nanao allowed a portion of her brain to ponder over the physics of stretching buildings and bodies between two worlds before snapping her mind back to attention. They had a long way to go and she needed to be focused.

The walk to the central intersection of the two Karakuras was several kilometers beyond the point where they entered. Unfortunately, the sekkiseki made shunpō impossible, leaving the three the only option of walking. The strain became more and more apparent as they neared the intersection of the two towns. There was one particularly stressful moment when a section of Jidanbō's rope started to fray. He valiantly held on, but he was clearly close to panicking. Without the red rope supplied by Nemu, the stone could very well crush him. Nanao hoisted herself up on his knee and, acting on impulse, whipped her fukutaichō insignia off of her arm and wrapped the cloth band tightly around the loosening rope. It was an odd effect, her small insignia on such a giant man, and she felt a pang go through her heart. The vice-captain badge was simply part of her uniform – like her shoe or sock. And yet, seeing that position of authority with the bird of paradise symbol upon on somebody else gave her a moment of sadness and jealousy. She waved it away almost as soon as it appeared, but nonetheless she felt a strange feeling of foreboding. Did this signify that she would not return to her role as the eighth division's fukutaichō? Did this perhaps suggest that henceforth she would find herself separated from the eighth division entirely? Nanao dismissed these thoughts as baseless and fruitless, but they nagged at her nonetheless. She simply had a slightly strange feeling that would not go away. Regardless, they needed to move on.

The going became longer and longer. With only a half-kilometer left to go, the Ikkanzaka brothers were faltering. Their steps had reduced to heavy shuffles across the fake Karakura pavement. Time seemed to go on achingly slowly. Nanao did not know what she was likely to see when they arrived. The sekkiseki's proximity kept her from being able to adequately use her ability to zoom in to see battles. She would probably be more or less blind to what was happening in the real world until after she deposited the brothers and the stone slabs and was on the real Karakura side preparing to return to Soul Society.

At long last, the shimmering intersection of the Karakuras lay before them. There was a slight overlapping that would allow them to descend the fake Karakura hopefully without disturbing the real Karakura too much. The brothers gained momentum as they approached the intersection and breathed heavily as they started their descent. Nanao stood to one side and held her breath as she watched them go. The further down they went, the less she could see. Just before they were out of sight, Jirōbō began to speed up. The two Karakuras were still close enough that the overhanging original town began bobbing with the unevenness between the slabs of sekkiseki. Roads began to split and Nanao feared the town would be rendered in half in the process of trying to protect it. She ventured down the slope to watch their descent. They cleared the real Karakura overhang without further problem and continued down into the real world. Compared with how long it took to reach the first half of the town, it took them only a little while to reach the real world and cross over into the real Karakura. Nanao watched them, looked at the towns, and instantly saw approaching disaster.

Both brothers were now in the part of the original Karakura that had returned to the real world. With their sekkiseki slabs, they were disturbing the spirit particles around them and sending them flying against buildings and streets. While some destruction of this sort was to be expected, the problem came from their unevenness. Jirōbō, having the most to prove, charged ahead of his brother in the desire to be first to reach his corner of the town. As they separated to go to opposite ends of town, they could not see that they were so uneven. Parts of the two Karakuras were starting to exchange and Nanao was thrown to the ground in the resulting earthquake. She stabilized herself to keep from rolling further down the slope, but as she started to make her way back up, she saw Jirōbō triumphantly reach his place and deftly settle his stone into place. That end of Karakura lurched violently upwards as it was repelled by the sekkiseki. Nanao could no longer keep her balance or control as the road swayed beneath her. Once Jidanbō reached his place and positioned his slab, the counter shock sent Nanao flying down and directly into where she was not supposed to be: straight into the real world itself.

While she spread out her kidō and attempted to stabilize herself, the Karakuras did the same. With the real Karakura no longer firmly planted on the ground, the fake Karakura returned to its prior setting. The half they had been concerned about faded upwards. It probably was not entirely back in Soul Society, but it was out of immediate danger, which is what Nanao was primarily concerned about. Unfortunately, both she and the Ikkanzaka brothers were now very much in the middle of battle. Some extremely unprofessional words, the type that could make even her captain raise an eyebrow, shot through Nanao's mind as she considered her situation. Baba had been correct – if Nanao had a skill that could neutralize Aizen's primary weapon, ultimate hypnosis, then she was in extreme danger of either being killed or kidnapped with the purpose of serving Aizen himself. This was the worst possible place for her, and she had no immediately apparent way out.


	21. Chapter 21

**Finally, I've had this chapter in mind for a while and I get to write it up at long last! This isn't quite how I'd envisioned it, but I like how it turned out! Meanwhile, I can't believe how large this has gotten. 21 chapters with no clear resolution in sight? I feel like I should be wrapping it up, but I really don't know how to can do that anytime soon. That's the thing, compared with the last story, these chapters are much shorter and thus the story takes longer to tell.**

**As ever, please tell me what you think!  
**

Chapter 21: The Tide Turning

Nanao had an immeasurably strong desire to kick something. Karakura was fine, but she was trapped. As she looked around, she saw that the Kotetsu sisters were nowhere to be found – they must still be in Karakura for some reason. Only, of course, they could not get back into Soul Society without fighting Yachiru and Nanao had no one to thank but herself for that. She'd told Yachiru not to let anyone in, but that was simply because she was afraid that Aizen could have manipulated them before they returned. Whether Yachiru would take into consideration that the Isane and Kiyone had not even been near Aizen would be fairly unlikely. No wonder she'd been so delighted – Nanao had given her the perfect type of order to fully take advantage of. Yes, something to kick would certainly be appreciated about now.

In the meanwhile, she at least had the ability to focus in on her comrades now and take stock of the battles. Her fury and annoyance at herself caught in her stomach when she saw Matsumoto and Hinamori. The former in particular was very likely not going to survive for long. The only thing that kept Nanao from assuming she was dead was the fact that Kira was still focusing extremely hard on healing her. Komamura-taichō stood watch over them, giving Kira a little more freedom to work, but Nanao could see it was a losing battle thus far with Matsumoto, and Hinamori was currently entirely unlooked after.

Nanao started towards her fallen comrades when she felt a faint pull to her left. Turning her head, she saw Kyōraku-taichō and Stark fighting. Even though she knew they were engaged in battle, she felt a lump grow in her throat. What had Stark told him about her and Lilinette? Anything at all? Did Kyōraku-taichō even care if he did know?

Shaking her head to refocus her attention, Nanao glanced around her to continue her mental inventory. Communications had been extremely poor in Soul Society, especially after she went into seclusion with Baba, and therefore she could not know if the missing Espada were destroyed, transformed, or simply waiting to strike. For instance, she could not find Halibel's Fracción nor she could she feel their presence. She felt a slight sense of relief and also foreboding at the same time. They did not seem the type to be easily wiped out. Meanwhile, Halibel was in battle with Hitsugaya-taichō, and it looked fierce. Similarly, the second division captain and vice captain were engaged with the elderly Espada named Barragan. Nanao swallowed hard again and turned away. They were hardly succeeding, but neither were they losing quite yet. Soifon-taichō had a few tricks up her sleeves, Nanao knew, although she generally had to be pushed to the breaking point before allowing additional powers to emerge. Nanao would not interfere.

In fact, there did not seem to be much need for her to interfere at the moment with the possible exception of assisting Kira with the two wounded fukutaichō. Nanao knit her brow together and concentrated harder. There was a fierce buzzing coming somewhere to her right. She could succeed in blocking it out for a moment but it only seemed to get louder and more insistent. Was it a mosquito? A machine?

She looked at Yamamoto-Genryūsai. As ever, a quiet determination pulsed from the elderly man. He was a source of power, discipline, and fear to Nanao. As much as the respected the man, she was more than a little wary as well. While her captain seemed blithely determined to maintain a strong sense of devotion to him despite all that had happened between them throughout the eons, Nanao felt she could never let her caution down around him. She trusted him, true, to protect and take care of his shinigami, but at the same time he would not hesitate to sacrifice any one of them to save the others. Even with his two favorites, the eighth and thirteenth captains, he would grieve for them but readily give them up. No, while they were technically on the same side, Yamamoto was not a man to be fully depended upon for one's personal well-being. She wondered what he was pondering as he watched the proceeding battles. He'd been watching Hitsugaya and Halibel for a while, but now he was turning away and keenly observing the captains in turn.

He turned in the direction of the strange buzzing that still had not let up. From her position, Nanao could see his chin tuck down slightly in disapproval and could imagine the quiet harrumph issuing forth from his mouth. She looked up and finally saw the source of the buzzing.

The "buzzing" was not from an insect or a machine, and it technically was not buzzing at all. In fact, it was a very familiar sound that Nanao had long since learned to block out.

"Oi, Nanao-chan! Over here! Na-na-o chu-a-a-a-a-a-n! Huh, maybe she doesn't hear me… OI, NANAO!! MY LOVELY, LOVELY NANAO-CHAN! HELLOOO!"

Nanao's lips pursed tightly as she glared at the pink clad figure of her captain well over a mile away standing and leaning on his swords. Stark simply watched in bored disbelief. Despite the previous passion of their fight, he seemed in no immediate rush to continue. Kyōraku turned to say something to him, to which Stark shrugged passively in reply.

The next thing Nanao knew, he was rushing towards her.

"Nanaoooooooooooo-," he cried as he approached.

"WHAT?"

"-chan. Genki?"

"Of course I'm fine. What on earth do you want?"

He pushed his lower lip out and looked down at her from under the brim of his hat. Nanao noted with concern that the edge was split.

"I missed you. I was also a little curious as to why you decided to come here when I had thought you were going to stay in Soul Society."

"It was a mistake. Are you bleeding?" She reached forward to tilt his hat back.

"My heart bleeds from your disdain," he complained. Nanao dampened her concern. If he could flirt and pout then he was more or less just fine.

"I didn't mean to come. I was escorting the Ikkanzaka brothers here to try to reverse the switch between the two Karakuras. As they flipped back I lost my footing and tumbled down here. I'll find a way back to Soul Society in a moment as soon as I've seen to Matsumoto and Hinamori."

Nanao was about to leave but there was something in her captain's expression that arrested her movement. He was simply staring very hard at her, searching her. She stopped and looked up in his handsome face. There was more intensity that she was used to seeing from him. An edge of fear crept down her spine.

"What is it?" she finally asked, her brow knitting together.

"Nanao, the Karakuras did not reverse. One pillar broke but it was soon fixed. Beyond that, the pillars have been successfully guarded."

She felt the blood drain from her face and her mouth went dry. "But… but that's impossible. I saw for myself the blurring between the towns. We set up sekkiseki walls to send the original Karakura back to Soul Society. Akon, Hiyosu, Rin, they all reported that two of the pillars had broken!" she insisted desperately.

"They did not."

"They must have. I _saw_ the intersection. I walked down the slope from one to another. I felt the ground shake beneath my feet as they reversed. I saw them change." At this point Nanao was shaking. She could not be wrong about this. She could not have fallen for a trap. It couldn't be possible.

Kyōraku looked away. "Before we came down, Yama-ji exposed us to a very newly created counter hypnosis device that should more or less render Aizen's images a little less powerful. We may still fall for them, but they should at the very least appear to us as the mirages that they are. I saw the pretend pillars destroyed and the pretend exchange of Karakuras occur. No one else noted it, and I'd hoped that this meant that Aizen's mind control could not work over us. I found it very cheering. One of the scouts must have seen and fallen for it and reported it back to the command center."

"And then what?" she snapped. "The entire command center as well as myself and the other fukutaichōs, we all fell for an illusion? Is that what you are saying?"

"Yama-ji didn't think it was necessary to provide you all with the same precaution," he said by way of apology.

"What about Baba?" she continued. "She saw it and didn't say anything to the effect that it might not be real!"

"Did she?" he said with a slight note of surprise in his voice. "That is interesting."

"Are you going to tell me that Aizen hypnotized her?" Nanao demanded.

"No, I don't think they ever crossed paths."

Nanao felt a quick pulse of triumph that was dashed a moment later.

"That said, there's a perfectly legitimate reason that Baba could still be deceived without having ever seen Aizen's hypnosis personally," he continued. "I'm not going to go into it right here, but it's more than possible."

"Well then how do you know that you're not deceived?" she cried desperately, doing her best to hold off tears. She felt foolish and was not quite ready to admit defeat. "How do you know that what you took as a mirage was not in fact real?"

"Nanao," he said calmly, "you better than anyone should know that."

She finally had to turn away at this as she bit her lip and tried not to let her tears pour forth. Yes, better than anyone, she should know what was real and what was illusion. That was what made this so hard to believe. If this was an illusion, then by virtue of her powers she should have been able to see through it. She simply did not understand. At the same time, she trusted her captain's instincts implicitly. She might have a power that could, at least potentially, cut through illusion, but Kyōraku-taichō seemed to have that knack intuitively. But then, he'd been deceived by Aizen along with the rest of them… hadn't he? This would not have been the first time that he had not included his vice captain in on all that he knew. If anything, it would be quite fitting for him to keep those suspicions to himself.

Still, it was true. She, more than anyone, _should_ know. She closed her eyes, forced herself to breath and tried to call Morrigan forth. Nothing happened. Nanao's eyes flew open as she continued to call Morrigan. No voice responded. The sarcastic, sly tone she was accustomed to from Morrigan was gone. Even the feeling was not quite there. She did not feel deserted exactly… Morrigan was there still, as was her power, but she herself did not respond. Instead, she felt a small, childish emotion of question and wonder issue forth. In her mind's eye, she envisioned a small girl with black hair, violet-blue eyes, and a Hollow mask.

Nanao suddenly realized what had happened. This was part of the power shift. They had all changed one position. The bird Morrigan became the child. The Morrigan Nanao was accustomed to talking with changed to the position of the taciturn elder. For her entire life until now Nanao had been the child – she had asked questions, questioned her abilities, relied on others. This was the change. She was the child no longer, now she was in the position of the being she had been accustomed to calling Morrigan. Now she was the one who, feasibly, had the answers.

Nanao breathed deeply for a moment and concentrated her emotions. There was something wrong here, that was clear. She looked around her. Things seemed more or less correct. There was Yamamoto, there was Soifon, Kira, Matsumoto, Hinamori, Hitsugaya, Komamura, Iba… she felt Madarame and Ayasegawa from the eleventh…yes, she saw and felt them all. Everything was as it should be. Except, it wasn't somehow. It was the feel. They all looked correct and acted accordingly, but the feel was wrong. They felt… hollow, somehow.

Nanao looked up to Kyōraku, his face full of concern.

"You're not my captain," she finally said with a slight shake of her head.

"He looked at her intensely a moment later then smiled at her.

"Irasshaimasu," he said. It was Aizen.


	22. Chapter 22

**I like this chapter :o). Thanks for reviews - I particularly liked last chapter's. Hope you all enjoy the way this is heading!**

Chapter 22: In Enemy's Territory

"_Welcome,"_ he had said, but Nanao felt anything but. His voice still held the warmth she'd previously associated with him, but now she felt keenly how his gentle politeness had always been his way of mocking those around him. It was cruel the way he could so simply and easily manipulate nearly everyone he encountered. It was even more of a blow to have to acknowledge that he had well and truly taken her in.

The world around them changed. Nanao could see now that she had fallen behind the fire wall Yamamoto-sōtaichō had constructed. It was, all things considered, stupendously rotten luck. The whole scene she'd just been subjected to was a giant mirage. Here she had confessed to her enemy that her presence there was an accident, just how she had flipped the Karakura towns, and how easily she could be fooled into thinking that he was her captain. That was the most hurtful thing of all. She'd been so relieved to see Kyōraku again that even though he had been acting in his most annoying manner she was simply thrilled to look at him and talk to him again. Only, it wasn't really her captain. She had still not seen him since he left except for at a distance. Nanao was bitterly disappointed to realize she was not talking to him after all. Worse yet, despite everything that had transpired between them lately, she had readily believed her enemy's deception. Where lay her devotion towards Kyōraku Shunsui now? Was her love so flimsy that she could be deceived so simply? The relief she had felt only moments before turned to nausea. Even so, she kept her composure.

"You must not blame yourself, Ise-fukutaichō," Aizen said soothingly with a half smile. "I had been wanting to try my Kyōraku impersonation for a while now. It is so freeing to transform into a character with such an expressive personality."

"I was not aware that acting and drama were interests of yours," Nanao uttered coolly. He threw his head back and laughed lightly.

"No? I thought that was really quite apparent. My companions are always telling me I am a little too melodramatic in my approach." He gesticulated over his left shoulder, where Nanao could see Ichimaru and Tōsen standing and observing the exchange. A shiver coursed through Nanao's frame.

"But then," Aizen continued, "I enjoy seeing my audience's expressions. Guiding them to the proper reaction sometimes calls for a heavy hand."

"Was my response satisfactory?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Most thoroughly," he said with a mysterious smile behind tented fingers. "But not necessarily in the way you might be thinking. No, no, Ise-fukutaichō. You gave nothing away. You uncovered the deception magnificently. I thought I would find as much from you."

Nanao felt a glimmer of hope arise with his magnanimous words but she crushed it with cold pragmaticism.

"Please do not patronize me," she snapped. "We both know I was taken in for a few minutes, so let's not waste time and energy pretending otherwise."

He shrugged nonchalantly. "As you wish. Nonetheless, I'd hoped to continue the charade for a little while longer, but I know you well enough to realize that you are far too perceptive to deceive. How humbling and reassuring."

She folded her arms and turned away. She needed this conversation to draw on for as long as she could while using every possible brain cell to try to figure out how to get out of this situation. Unfortunately, she did not know how to respond to him, so she went to the firewall and studied it carefully. She could only feel bits and pieces of reiatsu from the other captains and fukutaichōs, meaning they could probably only feel similar slight traces of her spirit energy as well. There was likely not going to be any assistance coming from outside the wall, nor did it seem that she could emerge from the fiery prison. Yamamoto-Genryūsai would undoubtedly attack whoever tried to break free without taking into consideration that there might be an ally trapped within. And, while she assumed that Aizen could break free more or less whenever he wanted, he seemed to be biding his time and allowing his underlings to fight for him. Nanao's only chance then was to remain alive until he decided to break free.

Just then, she realized that Aizen was watching her with great interest.

"How did I come to be trapped in here?" she finally asked. "I was not particularly close to the fire barrier when I fell. Did you change the spatial properties?"

He raised a hand lightly to wordlessly express that the effort expended had been mere child's play. "No, no, I deal in the realm of perception and hypnosis. It is true that the pillars did break – Gin and Kaname were kind enough to take care of that for me – but once you started emerging into the real world I was able to shift your perception of where the key pieces and people were. The sekkiseki was placed in two incorrect locations that, while more or less accomplishing what you had intended, are only weakly holding Karakura in place. The unevenness also caused the quaking that sent you down into Karakura. It was a bit of a stretch, I admit it, to manage to have you fall in this precise location, particularly without allowing your colleagues to notice your presence, but happily we achieved our goal quite beautifully."

"Did you anticipate the sekkiseki?" she asked, watching his face carefully. One edge of Aizen's mouth twitched ever so slightly.

"I will admit that it was an ingenious solution. I imagine it came to you in a fit of sudden inspiration. I always did wonder what you would evolve into if given the opportunity to utilize your magnificent intelligence. Your ingenuity is commendable, Ise-kun. I admit I am thoroughly impressed."

The praise started to melt through the wall of caution Nanao had built, but she quickly got hold of herself and turned away without replying. Aizen noted her nonverbal response.

"You don't believe I am telling you the truth?"

"Whether you are telling me the truth or not is hardly the issue," Nanao noted while keeping her back to him. "I have seen your actions in the past few months. You derive great pleasure in manipulating those around you, particularly females. First with Hinamori, then Inoue, and now you intend to warp my mind with false compliments and guile? I hardly imagine the sekkiseki barriers pose any great threat to you whatsoever. They are little more than a band aid on a gashing wound and will be easily dispensed with."

"Of course," he agreed readily. "I never suggested anything to the contrary. That is no great setback, but I suppose it is a temporary relief for you. I am merely commenting upon the thought pattern that would come to such an unusual and effective solution. You must allow me to be impressed by that at least," he chided mildly.

Nanao did not respond but simply stood looking straight into the flames around her. She felt Aizen approach but did not allow her body to flinch or recoil.

"You must understand, Ise-kun," he said softly into her ear, "that everything you say is quite true. With those like Hinamori-kun and Inoue-san, well, the manipulation is almost unintentional because it is so easy. I do not feel any particular malice towards those individuals in particular, nor towards women in general. However, it is as I told you before: there are certain reactions and results that I intend to see. To accomplish those goals, I need to move certain figures into certain places. It is like a chess game, of sorts. It requires a fair amount of forethought and planning. One never feels personally malevolent to sacrifice a bishop to better position a queen for attack. It is simply the way the game is played."

Nanao felt the blood nearly pool out of her at his words. The correlation between his actions and hers of late, even upon using chess at a metaphor for his plans, chilled her thoroughly. Was he suggesting they were of a similar ilk, or was she registering an innuendo where none existed?

"Please understand, Ise-kun," he said softly, "that I have no intention of patronizing, demeaning, or manipulating you. I may do it unintentionally out of pure habit, but I have full confidence that you, of all people, will be able to see through my guises and register my real intentions. I have great respect for you and your intellectual capabilities, Ise-kun. Even my own compatriots and subordinates mistrust and misunderstand me. With your high degree of cunning and insight, though, I feel like you are my equal. It is a great relief to know that I can have full faith in you to see me for who I am."

Nanao was still wary but mostly dumbfounded. Just what was he trying to say? What was this all about?

"What do you want from me?" she asked pointedly.

He smiled kindly down at her. "Why, nothing at all."


	23. Chapter 23

**The plot thickens! And clarifies a little... and thickens some more!! The truth is, sometimes I know a general direction I want a story to go in and put some hints early on to pick up later, but often I don't know what will happen chapter to chapter until I start typing - and then it all somehow works. Well, in my mind it does. I like the direction it's going and hope you all do too! Let me know what you think of the chapter - it's a doozy! Hope this makes up for some of my earlier absences. Thanks for the new comments and the new reviewers - keep 'em coming!  
**

Chapter 23: Difficult Answers

Nanao jerked her shoulder away from Aizen's touch.

"You have your companions destroy two pillars to attract my attention and then manipulate the very space around me to ensure that I will fall into your hands and you say that you want 'nothing' from me?" she bit out icily.

He smiled gently towards her. She was beginning to tire of his continual smiles. They were unnerving in their appearance of sincerity, but then that was the very reason why he continued to flash them.

"You are right to question my answer, of course. It does seem so very odd. And I understand that, from your perspective, this certainly does seem like entrapment. However, my intention is not to hold you prisoner, but rather to set you free. Could I benefit from your intelligence and wit? Most definitely. Is that partially why I did what I could to bring you here? Yes. Is that the only reason, though? No, not at all. I know this must seem very hard for you to understand, Ise-fukutaichō, because you can only see and read the worst possible intentions into my actions. I know that, at this point, you cannot find anything justifiable or particularly 'considerate' in what I've done. Before I explain, though, I want to ask one simple thing of you."

"And what is that?" she asked warily as she folded her arms.

"I simply want you to lay aside even a portion of your mistrust, just for a moment even. I want you to allow me the benefit of a doubt that perhaps, just maybe, I am not entirely the villain you think that I am."

"'Doubt' is not the problem. Where you are concerned, I have nothing _but _doubt," she stated drily. That earned her another smile.

"Is it so wise then, fukutaichō, to make your judgments without considering all of the facts from all relevant points of view?"

"If you want to plead your case for trapping me here, then I will hear you. As to how I will interpret what you have to say, though, that is entirely up to me. I promise nothing."

"I suppose that is all I can hope for," he said with a simple shrug. "Gin, Kaname," he directed over his shoulder. The two former captains raised their heads in his direction. "I would appreciate it if you would leave us for a few moments." Tōsen bowed his head in reaction whereas Ichimaru shrugged.

"As you like," the latter commented with his never-ceasing smile. "Nice to see you again, Nanao-chan," he added before effortlessly opening a slit in the far side of the fire wall and slipping out, followed a moment later by Tōsen. She sighed. So much for the fire's protection. Clearly, the three of them stayed there because they apparently enjoyed being in the middle of a furnace. She wondered when the others would find out how ineffective it truly was. The slit closed and Nanao found herself alone with Aizen. She had hardly expected to find much relief or protection from the other two traitors, but nonetheless this intimate situation only further raised her hackles.

"Please, relax," Aizen said kindly. Nanao's response was only to tighten her arms around her and to take a step back. He sighed resignedly.

"I'd hoped with you, at least, you might exercise a bit of rationalism and realize that Soul Society does not necessarily have your best interests at heart."

"I can hardly believe that you do," she replied flatly.

"Ah, but maybe I do. Or rather, maybe I offer you a situation in which you will be responsible for your own best interests. You cannot tell me that you have not felt taken advantage of, ignored, and mistreated from time to time."

"Can't I?"

"And actually expect me to believe it? No. I have made an art of studying people, Ise-kun. I will give your captain credit for identifying your particular strengths, but I can hardly understand what has allowed yourself to subject yourself to such servitude. How can they not appreciate your mind? How can they continually control you through bullying and playing upon your insecurities? They are keeping you in check, Ise-kun, while making use of your talents and hoping that you do not notice."

Nanao thought for a moment and shifted her weight onto one foot before replying. "If you are simply going to tell me things I already know, then we are wasting both of our time here."

She fought back a smirk as she noted Aizen's look of surprise. This was good. He expected her to fight with him. He won his battles through breaking down an enemy's defenses and gently redirecting them to his line of thinking. Whatever she did, she had to keep from allowing him to get into her psyche. Strange as it might seem, it appeared that the best thing to do was to agree with him.

"You willingly allow yourself to be mistreated and abused?"

"Quite willingly."

Aizen did not seem to know how to respond to this, so he simply seemed to stand back and watch her admiringly.

"Please, continue," he encouraged. Nanao thought for a moment how to proceed with this line of discussion.

"You seem to be under the impression that for a person to be taken advantage of, he or she must therefore be ignorant that it is happening. Of course I know about it. Do you think I do not make sure Kyōraku-taichō is thoroughly aware that I realize how much I am overworked? He's accused me of being quite manipulative about it to earn favor and sympathy with my fellow shinigami. Meanwhile, since I am so efficient and he is so loathe to do anything resembling work, I am privy to more private and personal information than a vice-captain normally should be. Orders often come through me before they go to my captain. Please do not believe that merely because I am 'taken advantage of' that I am not capable of similarly making the most of my circumstance, or that things are not precisely as I would want them."

He chuckled. "I am more pleased and relieved to hear that than you could believe, Ise-kun."

"Then if you are satisfied with the state of my situation, may I go now?"

"Are you so certain you want to do that? After all, you've just confessed to me how underhanded and manipulative you truly are. I'm sorry to have to point this out to you, but your actions are not all that dissimilar to my own prior to leaving Seireitei."

"Perhaps not, with the notable exceptions of killing the Center 46, turning fellow taichōs and fukutaichōs into Hollows, attempting to murder Hinamori, faking my own death, and a few other little felonies, of course," she said snidely.

He laughed. "Details, Ise-kun. The truth is, whether or not you have committed those deeds, do you really think it will be so long before your colleagues turn on you and realize what deception and chicanery you regularly display? I'm afraid that I left the air ripe with the makings for a witchhunt. Everyone is suspect, and with power in the hands of the semi-senile and thoroughly paranoid Yamamoto, well, I am afraid your freedom within Seireitei's walls is a lot less certain than it is where you are right now."

"Are you saying that I will be imprisoned not for anything I've done but rather because of perceived similarities to you?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm afraid so. Not a very nice present to have left you with, to be sure. Think about it though, why did they leave you behind?"

Nanao was about to retort with a comment about her having the power to neutralize Aizen's hypnosis ability but then bit her tongue in time. He took her silence as a sign of defeat.

"Please don't think that Morrigan had anything to do with it," he commented casually. This time, her silence was from shock. "You see," he continued, "I knew the prior person who possessed Morrigan. Not well, of course. Rather, I knew someone who _was_ quite close to her. Morrigan is no mystery to me, and I'm afraid she's not much of a threat either. You were left behind not to protect yourself, but out of fear that you'd been conspiring with me all along. You're already a suspect, Ise-kun, and it will not be long before they make the containment more permanent."

"Kyōraku-taichō would never allow it," was all Nanao could manage to reply.

"Nanao," he said gently, comfortingly, "Kyōraku is the one who has orchestrated it." A beat passed before he continued. "You and I both know that his lackadaisical attitude is a convenient cover to avoid being suspected as even half the ingenious leader and soldier that he is. I imagine he's gotten closer to you since my defection, both personally and professionally. He is still trying to figure out your loyalties, but not enough to actually trust you."

"Of course he trusts me. Why else would they have left Seireitei to me?" she said confidently.

"To keep you out of the way. I'm afraid that, in the long run, your actions have made no difference whatsoever. If they fail here, they fail everywhere. There's no backup, no second plan. That was merely a convenient cover to keep you from suspecting."

Nanao turned away from him and took a few deep breaths. She was letting him get to her. It was almost impossible not to. His voice was so gentle and calm that it was hypnotic in and of itself without his having to rely on his zampakutō. She told herself to ignore his words, to trust in the relationship she had with her captain.

"I think there is something you should know," he said slowly, approaching her from behind. "This is a simple example, and entirely true, but perhaps it will demonstrate just what I mean. You mentioned Baba before, and I was quite surprised. There were a few reasons for this. I do not know Baba personally, but I know that she is Kyōraku's former nurse. I also know that she is a remarkably skilled kidō user, or at least she was. In many ways, she was unparalleled. Perhaps he told you, but she was initially part of the royal guard."

Nanao started violently and turned quickly to look into his face. He smiled compassionately and put a hand on her shoulder. "I see he did not tell you then," he continued.

"Even though 'Baba' could refer to any older woman, when you mentioned her to me, I knew you had to be talking about this same woman, particularly as I was in the guise of Kyōraku at the time. Perhaps you should learn a little more about her. I will repeat, by the way, that this is all true. I am aware of it because it was an issue that was faced after my becoming a captain. All captains are aware of this situation, but out of courtesy to Kyōraku Shunsui all mention of her was striken from the official record, which is why you've never seen it. Ask any captain you like for verification, even Ukitake will confirm what I am about to tell you."

Nanao could not help but keep her eyes on his face in abject horror. Much as she did not want to, she trusted him, and she had the premonition that what he would say could very well undermine the trust in her captain that she now desperately clung to. She both dreaded and anticipated the continuation of the story.

"Baba's real name is Hashida Mitsuko. The Hashida family is one of several that serve the noble Kyōraku clan. After she grew older and left the guard, the head of the Kyōraku clan, your captain's father, took her in and allowed her to raise his three children. Before then, perhaps it will not surprise you to learn that her zampakuto's power was none other than Morrigan." He smiled compassionately as he saw her wrestle to keep her surprise from showing. Nanao internally cursed the man but nonetheless could not turn her eyes away from his.

"According to what I heard in the captain's meeting, Morrigan is a tripartite power, where one of the three powers comes from the wielder herself. There are two significant transitions that must take place. The first puts the wielder is complete control over Morrigan's powers. The second diminishes that control and allows the zampakuto itself to be the primary power. My understanding is that Hashida, or, well 'Baba' I'll call her, did not accept that second shift. However, it's an inherent part of that zampakuto's natural course. In the end, Baba refused to make the transfer, thus upsetting Morrigan's balance. Baba ended up losing her powers entirely, as Morrigan then left and sought out a new host. I'm sure you know what happened next – she found you. This must have been around the time that you entered Soul Society. It is hardly surprising, then, that Kyōraku sought you out and made certain to put you in his own squad. In fact," Aizen laughed, "he even made you fukutaichō despite the fact that you could not even utilize your shikai and were afraid of your power. He knew only too well what Morrigan's abilities were. Not only did he want to discourage you from using them, he was preserving them until such a time when Baba could reclaim them."

"Really?" Nanao replied in an attempt at nonchalance. "He told you all this at a captain's meeting?"

He smiled. "No, I admit that last part is largely conjecture. What I said before is not, nor is the rest of the story.

"With Baba's previously exalted position and her new situation of being thus stripped of her powers, Kyōraku had to report upon all this to the captains. That is how I came to know of it. However, he was also embarrassed and therefore Yamamoto, rather foolishly, agreed to keep the news confidential. Now, here is the most interesting part of all: when I was pretending to be Kyōraku just now, you told me that Baba had seen the transfer of the two Karakuras and not said anything. You then asked if it was possible that I could have hypnotized her. The truth is that, no, I did not ever attempt to hypnotise her. However, neither did I necessarily need to. Without spiritual powers, there is no need for me to try to overcome them. She would merely see what I projected. She would have no defense whatsoever against my illusions whereas, as you know, for those with spirit energy, I need to apply a treatment of sorts beforehand. But you know this. You know how my powers work. Therefore, when you objected and said that Baba had seen the Karakuras partially switched, that means that you expected that she would _not_ have seen that if it truly had been nothing but an illusion and – and here is the most important point – and _if she had spiritual powers that I had not already subjected to my hypnosis beforehand_. You see, you yourself unknowingly betrayed to me that she had spiritual powers, which I did not know. She does, doesn't she?"

Nanao did not know how to react. If Baba had indeed wielded Morrigan before her, which unfortunately made a great deal of sense considering all she knew of her, then it was true – having lost Morrigan she should have at least lost all of her powers if not died outright. And yet, Nanao had seen Baba perform some of the most complicated kidō she had ever seen. Therefore, that alone _should_ mean that Aizen was lying. Why then did he look so superior? She did not reply, but that alone confirmed his suspicion.

"Nanao," he said in his gentlest manner, "having lost one's powers, there are certain ways to regain them, such as through repairing the soul link. However, her loss of power did not come from injury but rather through her zampakutō abandoning her. It would be impossible for her regain_ any_ powers except through one possible avenue."

Nanao thought carefully. What was he trying to say? One possible method came to mind, but it was almost too horrible to consider. She stared intently at Aizen, willing him with all her might not to confirm her suspicion. He did anyway.

"The only way for her to have regained any sort of spiritual energy would be for someone else to give her some. Not many shinigami can even do that and still remain powerful enough to go about their duties. Only a very powerful person could spare a significant portion of reiatsu and manage to keep others from finding out. Kyōraku himself must have bestowed some of his own powers to her. And, since he is under my hypnosis, therefore so is she."

Nanao closed her eyes and tried to think. Listening to Aizen's words and being this close to his presence seemed to cloud her senses like a drug-laden fog. He continued.

"Nanao, even though Baba is not a human, it is still a very serious crime to give a portion of one's powers to a soul who did not come upon those powers naturally. Anyone who could commit that kind of crime and that kind of coverup is not the ideal paragon you believe he is."

Nanao rubbed her temples with her clenched fists and told herself over and over that he was lying. However, Baba's words rang through her head: _"But you tell Shunsui when you next see him that this goes beyond the call of nursely duty! You tell him _he's paid back now_, ya hear?"_ Paid back? What was paid back? What had he done for her that she'd been repaying until now? Was that why she'd helped Nanao transition to the middle position with Morrigan? If she hadn't achieved that change, Morrigan would left. Had Baba interfered to help Nanao, or was it to keep Morrigan in a place where Baba and Kyōraku knew where she was? Was this why she'd been placed into the eighth even though her kidō abilities clearly made her a better candidate for the second or fourth divisions? Was this the missing key to the confusing puzzle that had made up her entire existence with Seireitei? As much as she didn't want to believe Aizen and his treachery, unfortunately what he said made more sense than any other explanation she'd ever heard or made up for herself. What then was her relationship with her captain? What then was her own authority and position within Soul Society? Who were Kyōraku Shunsui and Ise Nanao really?


	24. Chapter 24

**I haven't forgotten! Don't worry! I might disappear from time to time, but I'm not gone! As always, sorry about the long wait, but at least it's a longish chapter. Slight shift, little bit more insight to Morrigan and Nanao... what do you think?**

Chapter 24: Consideration

Nanao could barely register her own thoughts over the sound of pounding blood in her ears. She desperately sought out Morrigan, but for a long time she could not be found. Finally Nanao allowed herself to enter her power's nightscape home and found Morrigan sitting on the edge of the pool, staring at her reflection. Nanao instantly felt relieved, but she felt a twinge of hesitation as she rushed forward. Morrigan looked up at her, and Nanao was amazed to see the transformation. Morrigan's skin was sallow and shrunken. Her cheeks were caving in, and the once sharp and sarcastic face was drooping and wilted.

"What happened to you?" Nanao asked in horror, all thought of Aizen gone.

"I'm aging, of course," Morrigan replied dryly. She turned back to the pool and looked for a while longer. As Nanao neared, she saw that the face and figure in the fountain was the youthful form she had long associated with her power.

"Will you take the form of a bird as well?" she finally asked after a long moment.

"Obviously," came the reply. "A raven, of course. No mask for me, however. I will still be able to emanate as my old self from time to time in this world, though," she continued with a yawn and a stretch. "It's quite tiring to get older, you know. It's been a long while since I had to be in this form."

Nanao's purpose in seeking out Morrigan suddenly came back on her.

"Can you help me resist Aizen's illusions?" she asked intensely.

"What do you want me to do, cough on him?" Morrigan grumbled. "I'm an old lady now, leave me alone," she said as she curled onto the fountain's stone edge.

"I can discern deception, right?" Nanao continued on desperately. "That means I should be able to tell when he is lying, doesn't it?"

"Generally that's what that would mean, yes," Morrigan bit out in a rough tone.

"But I can't find any lies in what he says! What am I doing wrong?"

"Nothing. You don't do anything, you just know. You analyze, same as you've always done. If you can't find deception, then there is none."

Morrigan's simple and grumpy explanation shook Nanao.

"That can't be," she finally managed with a slight shake to her head.

"Fine then, it can't be. So go back and leave me alone."

"_Please,_" Nanao breathed heavily. Morrigan turned and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I don't know what I'm doing. I'm afraid and I need your guidance," she stated plainly.

Slowly, Morrigan swiveled around and sat up. She looked hard at Nanao for a long minute then stood and walked around to the other edge of the pool.

"If you've stopped being able to lie to yourself, then the transformation is complete. Congratulations," she finished with a smug smirk.

"He _cannot_ be telling me the truth," Nanao stated firmly, to which Morrigan gave a harsh bark of laughter.

"Why, because it's not what you wanted to hear? Because being honest is not what he is known for? He's a manipulator, and nothing is quite so manipulative as learning how to use facts against others. Think back to when he was Captain Aizen – while his persona was always fake, his actions utilized real feelings and real emotions. The best illusions are often the simplest ones, because people choose not to believe their own senses. Don't think you've disarmed him simply because you can tell when he's lying. To someone like him, that's no barrier at all."

Nanao sat down and put her head in her hands.

"So… my bankai means nothing, then."

Morrigan gave her a sour look. "You're very extreme, aren't you? Something is good or it is bad, it is efficient or it is inefficient. Manipulators never see the world quite so blandly. There are shades of meaning, shades of truth, shades of lies. Knowing your powers, he can still mislead you into wrong conclusion simply by feeding you cleverly crafted half-truths. Besides, what he's told you isn't so very disastrous," Morrigan stated off-handedly with a slight shrug.

Nanao simply looked up at her. "Being told that the foundation of my trust in Kyōraku-taichō is built on lies, that my entire existence as a fukutaichō was merely to keep me close at hand for my predecessor's benefit, that despite everything that's happened between us my captain believes I am a traitor… that's nothing?"

Morrigan sighed and rolled her eyes. "So melodramatic," she muttered. "You jump to the most astonishing conclusions." She looked harshly at Nanao. "Review what he actually said. There are only so many things he 'knows' for certain, and the rest are conjecture. They may be correct, and they may be incorrect, but you can be certain he's peppered them from his own perspective for his own ends. That much you should be able to know on your own."

Nanao thought on this for a while. "And Baba was indeed the last to possess you?"

Morrigan reared back in anger. "_Possess_… you think you've ever _possessed_ me?" she laughed sharply. "We share the same power source, but if you possess me then I possess you to the same degree. You've transitioned to the middle position, the strongest of the three, but you will be overtaken in the end when it is time to age and take your place as the raven."

Nanao stared at her in horror. "My place as the raven?" she repeated.

"Of course. That's what Mitsuko, or 'Baba,' could never accept. She could not bear the idea of no longer being the primary power. And so, she refused to go through the transition. She's hardly the first to have done that, but she's the first who has refused and lived. And it is true, the only way she could have recovered some element of spiritual power is if someone strong, such as a captain, gave them to her."

"So, everything Aizen said really is true then?" Nanao stated impatiently.

"Augh," Morrigan said in a noise somewhere between a moan and a sigh. "It's too tiring to talk to you when you're being this stubborn. Think about it for yourself for a while. Ask her. Leave me alone so I can sleep." At that, Morrigan pushed herself off the edge of the pool and faded away down one of the paths that led to the dark forests beyond.

Nanao blinked and stayed where she sat. Ask who? Baba? At that moment, though, she saw the third part of her power, the child with the hollow mask, climbing arduously up to kneel and look down into the pool. She reached out to grab at a hidden substance just below the murky waters.

"Careful!" Nanao cried and darted around to grab the girl before she fell in. The little girl looked curiously at Nanao and removed her hand from the pool. A dead fish lay in her grasp.

"I'm okay. I know how to keep my balance," she replied in a small voice. It was nearly impossible to equate this wide-eyed, precocious youngster with the ethereally beautiful raven-lady Nanao had first seen her as. The girl turned around and placed the fish in the lap of her purple robe.

"Wanna see a trick?" she asked and then proceeded to pick the fish up with her right hand and toss it to her left. The fish immediately began wriggling and struggling in her grasp. She threw it to her right hand and it flopped over dead again. Then back to the left hand it went and writhed once more. Back and forth she did this, watching Nanao's face the whole time. For her part, Nanao was simultaneously entranced and repulsed.

"Can you make things die and come back to life?"

"Hmm. Maybe," came the reply. "With fish at least. Can you do it?"

"No," Nanao stated firmly.

"Are you sure?" came the sly reply.

"Of course I can't! I'd have noticed by now!"

"Here," the girl said simply as she tossed the fish to Nanao. With a gurgled cry, Nanao bushed the dead fish away from her. As she hit it back and forth with either hand, though, her brain finally computed that there were slight differences in the fish itself. Indeed, it was coming to life and dying in the nanoseconds between her strikes. Finally she succeeded in hitting it towards the water with her left hand. The fish swam deftly away. She watched the place it had disappeared with wide eyes.

"How did I do that? I've touched plenty of fish and that never happened before!"

This set the girl into gales of laughter.

"It's not you, silly!" she finally explained. "It's not me either. It's just the fish. That's how they are here."

Nanao watched her cautiously as she sat beside the girl. "Is there some sort of hidden message I'm not understanding here?"

"Mm, I don't know. You can call me Macha, by the way," she said, looking up.

"Excuse me?"

"I know you aren't sure what to call me. I'm part of Morrigan, as you know, but if it makes it easier you can just call me Macha."

"Does she have another name too?" Nanao asked, indicating towards the retreating figure.

"Mmhmm," was the simple reply. Macha pushed herself off the pool and started to skip around it. "This is fun! I haven't gotten to be the child in a long, long time. Why didn't you play more when you were the child?" she asked Nanao critically.

"I did play, they were just different games."

"They sound boring for a little girl," Macha said critically and continued to skip.

"Is your name supposed to be the same as powdered green tea?"

"I can't help what people name beverages," came the enigmatic reply.

Nanao suppressed a shudder. She'd always hated matcha. Actually, so had her captain – it was one of the first, and few, points that they had completely agreed upon. She got the feeling that letting this little girl know about her thoughts would only offend

her, though.

"What is the name of the other woman who makes up Morrigan?" she tried again.

"Anan."

"Anan?" For some reason this reply startled Nanao.

The child looked at her with wide eyes. "Your name, it's Anan."

Nanao gave a shaky laugh. "Close. It's Nanao."

"Yes. Anan."

Nanao had heard that children often created nicknames for people whose names they had trouble pronouncing. Therefore, it would probably be useless to try to argue with her. Where Macha was concerned, Nanao would be Anan.

"Can you help me decide how to fight this man?" she asked Macha hopefully.

In return, the girl gave her a doubting look. "You could just kill him," she pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't think so," Nanao said in a half laugh. "Aizen is… well, there's no way someone like I could beat him."

"Why not?"

"Why not?" Nanao repeated. "For one thing he's much more powerful than I am. I've seen him do things I never imagined possible. I'm afraid to say it, but I'm not sure anyone is strong enough to defeat him."

"Well then there's not," Macha rationalized simply.

"Then we're all just wasting our time," Nanao said, standing and turning away from the pool. Macha stopped skipping, reached up for Nanao's hand and pulled her back to sit on the edge of the fountain. She kneeled next to her and, with a mothering air, smoothed Nanao's hair and pushed her glasses up. She then settled her weight back on her heels, folded her hands on her lap and looked demurely up at Nanao.

"You misunderstand. There are two parts to a battle: the physical and the mental. Mental prowess is no less significant than physical. If you enter a battle with an air of defeat, then you have been defeated already."

"I know that," Nanao sighed impatiently. "I'm not saying he _can't_ be beaten, well, not exactly, but I'm certainly not the one to do it."

"Why not?" came the innocent reply.

Nanao ran her palms over her hair. "This is not… _I'm_ not… There's just no way!" she said with a bitter bark of laughter. "At best, I have a tool that could take some of his power away, but I'm… I'm certainly not the one to defeat him, let alone kill him!"

"Oh I see," Macha said with an air of sudden enlightenment. "You're afraid of him."

Nanao looked at her sharply. "Well, to be perfectly frank, yes. He's terrifyingly powerful."

"Mm, somewhat," the child agreed.

"No, not somewhat, absolutely! He's never showed weakness to anyone."

"He showed weakness to you, not very long ago."

Nanao thought back. "Because I said I knew I was being taken advantage of? That's different. That was just catching him off guard. That's not enough of an opening to actually call it a weakness."

"Then what's his strength?"

"Lies… manipulation… deception… illusion… He can fool anyone even if they know to expect it."

"And what's your strength?"

"The ability to see through that, only he's pulling me in by using truths I had no idea about against me. All I can tell is that he's not saying something he considers to be untrue – that doesn't tell me anything about actual events and circumstances."

Macha tilted her head. "So, what does?"

"I…. well, instinct, I suppose."

"Hmmm. Does instinct tell you he's right?"

"No! At least I don't think so. Unfortunately what he says makes a great deal of sense. Could it be possible, though? Could Kyōraku-taichō actually think that I could be a traitor? No… that's not it. Maybe that's why he decided to make me his fukutaichō, in order to keep me close by. But, no, I can't believe he'd actually harbor some fear that I would turn and betray them all."

"Why would you?"

"I wouldn't!"

"But if you did… why would you do it?"

Nanao thought deeply for a long minute.

"There are things I don't always approve of – signs of favoritism or nepotism, for example. The division between those born inside and those born outside of Seireitei's walls is appalling. I suppose I can understand an early bias at the academy or in determining squads, but in matters of promotion, rank, leadership, classism has no place. That will get you killed."

"Yes, that is a reason to leave. Why else?"

"Why else? The lack of professionalism, the lack of respect and responsibility… particularly among certain of those in positions of leadership and power. Perhaps the feeling that I'm the only one who cares about deadlines and obligations, and as much as I would also like to shirk my duties like everyone else does, they've become so expected of me that I alone would be penalized if I neglected to keep everyone else on task. I feel very… isolated… in Soul Society. I've made a place for myself there, and yet it doesn't feel like I belong at all."

Nanao was shocked to hear the words pouring forth. There was truth to them all, but they were largely unspoken grudges that she hadn't even voiced to herself. She hadn't allowed herself to even ponder them seriously.

Macha nodded gravely. "Those too are reasons for betrayal, especially isolation and loneliness."

"But I wouldn't do it!" Nanao cried. Macha nodded knowingly.

"Yes, yes, but you see, it's very easy to say you might 'never' do something if you haven't allowed yourself to consider that you might. You have ample reason to abandon them and see if you cannot set up a Soul Society more befitting your ideals with Aizen. Before saying you'd 'never' do that, you should actually try considering it."

Nanao stared in disbelief at the child. "He's the enemy!"

She shrugged. "And? Everyone is somebody's enemy. It's all about perspective."

"I'm not a traitor!"

"Well what if we change the word to 'reformer.' How about that? You wouldn't be betraying them, you would be reestablishing the virtues and ideals behind the shinigami. After all, Aizen simply wants control and order. Under him, you could work with Tōsen and Ichimaru to establish the respectful, peaceful, orderly society you've always wanted." Macha stared hard at Nanao. "You can't say you'd 'never' do something and actually mean it if you do not thoroughly consider the idea, contemplate it, look upon it as a viable option, and only then come the eventual decision that you have chosen not do it," she said deliberately.

Nanao did not respond, but rather swallowed and thought. There was truth to Macha's words. She did not intend to be a turncoat, but at the same time, she did not want to be a blind follower. Would she remain faithful to Seireitei simply because she was a shinigami? Or would she remain faithful to them because she fiercely believed and supported it? She had problems aplenty with Soul Society as it currently was. Her spirit often cried in quiet indignation over the injustices she regularly saw. Could she really fight to the death to preserve such a system as this? Perhaps it was true… perhaps, strange and bizarre as it sounded, perhaps there was indeed a way to reform and restructure Soul Society to actually follow its guidelines and principles. And perhaps it was Aizen who could bring that change around.

This was a perspective Nanao had not considered before, and now that it had entered her head, she could not shake it. Was it really possible that with Aizen she could create the utopic, egalitarian Soul Society she'd always dreamed of? If she really couldn't beat him... well, might it not be better in the long run if she really were to join him?


	25. Chapter 25

**Yes, another chapter! I seem to put them up in spurts. I get the feeling that we might finally see Nanao again in the manga (after a really rather length hiatus) in the next few chapters or so, and so I wanted to begin wrapping up this one... if I can! The ending is still a bit of a mystery to me. However, this chapter is definitely an important one (short, but important). Happy reading! And, as ever, I *love* reading your comments, critiques, ideas, suggestions... everything! Tell me what you think!**

Chapter 25: A Choice

Nanao blinked the see herself looking once again into flames. Her consciousness had returned to her body trapped in the middle of Yamamoto-Genryūsai's inferno. Despite the heat, she felt a slight chill come over her body as she sensed Aizen nearing.

"Have you returned, Ise-fukutaichō?" came his amused voice from just past her ear. He had returned to his customary formality, but the intimacy of before returned.

"I never really left; I was merely having a slight conversation with my zampakutō," she replied in a tone to match his.

"Oh yes? What does she suggest?"

Nanao turned to face him directly. "She says I should hear what you have to say and then decide."

His smile seemed to hold an icy warmth to it. "Yes, zampakutō generally know how to look out for their own interests, which is to say they similarly look out for their masters'. Her loyalty will be to you, not to the shinigami order."

"She won't show me any loyalty whatsoever if I ever refer to myself as her 'master,'" Nanao commented, folding her arms and shifting her weight. "But she has a point. I'll hear you."

He looked down on her for a long minute, his face a general enigma. Nanao fought the urge to squirm and simply met his gaze with an expectant look of her own.

"This is how I've imagined you all along," he said quietly, nearly in a whisper. "Strong, sure, in control. Kyōraku's a fool to treat you as he has."

Nanao pursed her lips in impatience. "Let me clarify: I will listen to what you want with me, I will listen to what your overall plans are, I will listen to anything related to your betrayal and the whole reason why we've gathered here now. I will _not_ listen to empty compliments. I am in no mood to be seduced." She stared steelily into his eyes. Her attitude only seemed to delight and amuse him all the more. Still, he shifted his weight back and the intensity subsided a little.

"My apologies, Ise-fukutaichō," he said with a smile. The humor in his voice suggested to Nanao that there was little actual apology there at all. Still, his slight change in attitude made breathing a little easier. Nanao had prepared for all manner of attacks from Aizen, but not for physical attraction. Sexual energy of any type always unnerved her, although she had grown used to a certain degree of it after all her years with her captain. How odd to think that nearly a century of avoiding her taichō's advances had been the best training she could have hoped for against such the most formidable enemy she would likely ever encounter. What she wouldn't give for a book or a fan about now.

She couldn't hold back the slight smirk that came to her lips at the recollection. Aizen saw the slip in her hard façade and seemed to take it as an encouraging sign.

"So, you want to know what I want with you?" he finally said with another strangely kind smile. "For my own purposes, I want your intelligence, I want your planning, I want your dependabilty, I want your professionalism, I want your assistance, I want your refined tastes, and I want your company. For your sake, I want to give you a choice. Before I begin, let me inform you that you may rejoin your friends whenever you want. I will not harm you or stand in your way whatsoever. Once you say the word, I will abide by it – and to that I promise.

"The king stands alone on his pedestal, protected by a single key. Despite over a century of looking, I do not know where the key lies. I suspect the only one who does know currently holds us in a ring of fire. Therefore, the more direct method seems to be forging a new one. And, really, given what I hope to accomplish, I think it is more fitting that I should make my own key by my own hand. As you know, for that I need souls. It is regrettable that so many should have to die, but the most glorious victories are never without sacrifices.

"I want you to know, Ise-fukutaichō – Nanao-san – that I do not actually need you. The whole event has been planned out without taking you into consideration at all. Every step, every move, has been meticulously planned with equally meticulous alternatives in the unlikely situation that one step does not succeed; but then, in some cases, that is also intentionally planned. Therefore, I am meeting with you purely from a heartfelt desire to offer you the choice of seeing justice done. Your feelings have been trampled, your work ignored, your respectability ridiculed, and your very existence trivialized by the very people who should be recognizing and admiring your gifts and abilities. What you see as seduction in my words and actions is simply sheer appreciation of your capabilities. However, the only form of consideration or attention you have ever received from your captain has come as drunken overtures and pathetic pleadings to be taken care of." His voice grew harsh as he recounted Kyōraku's failings.

"I offer you respect and dignity. I offer you the chance to have a hand in remaking Soul Society to be the way it should be – the way you've always dreamed it. Like I said, I do not need you to accomplish what I have set out to do, but I can certainly use you. I will win, Nanao-san. That is not something that can even be debated. I will win; the shinigami will lose. I will establish myself as king of heaven. But I will need chancellors and advisors. I'm not offering to make you my queen or anything so paltry as that – I am offering you real power and real authority. This is not from pity but rather from admiration and a recognition that perhaps you and I have often been vexed by the same injustices."

Nanao's eyes remained locked onto his for a long moment. He held a hand out.

"Will you join me?"

Her gaze shifted down to look at the hand then back up in his eyes.

"You know I am not lying," he added with a sympathetic smile and extended his hand further towards her.

"No," she said at long last, "you are not lying. Whether all of the emotions you are portraying are genuine or not is another matter, but in your words at least I do not sense any lies, nor even very much deceit."

His smile grew. She looked back down at his hand.

"And I could, with you, create the very society I'd always dreamed of," she said softly. "Joining the shinigami was a terrible blow, especially for a child. I'd built up such ideals, and to have them not only broken and trampled but also downright mocked and ridiculed was almost more than I could bear. Their treatment made me retreat into myself. It made me who I am – distrustful and distant. And, some might say, the end result of what we could create could well be worth the cost in the long run."

Aizen straightened his back. The deal was sealed. Nanao was his.

She then looked back up into his eyes, and the softness from a moment ago was gone.

"But if the treatment I endured made me distrustful and distant, it also gave me new ideals that go beyond simple rules or regulations. Heaven knows how that man taught me morals or ethics, but from Kyōraku-taichō I learned more about living a good life than I could have from all the philosophers and sages whose teachings I devoured. Whatever I could create with you would only tarnish with time. There is no utopia except what we can create with our current existences. For you, it means a blatant disegard for everyone and everything. If you have any true admiration for me at all it is because you think we are the same. At one time, we might have been. In fact, under different circumstances, perhaps I would be the one offering my hand out to you. But out of all the possible people I could have grown into, I have become someone who could never justify an honorable end through dishonorable means. I will keep my sullied and corrupt Soul Society and hope to do what I can to affect change from within. Because, you see, whatever one's good intentions might be, I see now that no one person has the right to order an entire population to live by an individual's perceived morals and guidelines. There must be choice or else it's simply tyranny. And tyranny is far worse than anything I've ever seen in Seireitei."

He was not angry, but merely looked on her with pity and a twinge of sadness.

"You will be killed, you know," he informed her.

"Better to be dead now than to wish I were later," was her response. "But as I remember it, you promised not to harm me while we are here at least."

He dipped his head in a nod. "That I did. You are free to go and rejoin your friends, Ise-fukutaichō." He raised a hand.

Nanao realized the implications only a moment too late. A tear formed in the fire wall, and within instants it vanished at their feet. Nanao was suddenly exposed to shinigami and arrancar alike. No one there knew that she had left Soul Society, nor for what purpose. All they could see was that she had surreptitiously abandoned her post and had been conferring with the enemy. After a moment of stunned silence, she saw Yamamoto-Genryūsai lift his staff in her direction. A slight spark sizzled at its end.


	26. Chapter 26

** I get a feeling from here on out I'm definitely going to have to split from the manga, which is sad. Ah well. Even though there have clearly been discrepancies, I've tried to keep some things more or less in line with what's happening. I guess this means I'll have to come up with my own method of eventually dealing with Aizen.... or maybe save that for another story. Anyway, I don't want to give anything away with this chapter - so I'll just say that I hope you like it! Can't wait to hear what you think :o).**

Chapter 26: Respite

Nanao's eyes darted away from the sparking end of the sōtaichō's staff and sought out her captain's position. Clearly he had seen her, but the distance and angle of his head made his face undiscernable. Was that because he was angry? Disappointed? Shocked? He was too far away and locked in battle anyway. There was no help to come from that quarter. She glanced at Aizen, but his prior felicitousness had vanished and was replaced by a knowing, sadistic grin. He backed away slowly and lifted his fingers. Nanao held back a curse. Aizen was on the brink of opening a garganta and slipping away entirely, leaving Nanao alone to face Yamamoto's wrath.

The blast came, and Nanao was unprepared. But then, there was little preparation she could do against such an attack. She hastily created a shield and braced herself within it. A shadow came across her face and she looked up. All she could see against the dark flames was a single figure in the midst of them all, holding them back. Kyōra– no, this person was too slim for it to be him. But who –

Nanao caught sight of a long black braid snapping in the wind and the edge of a white mask protecting her savior's face from the fire's heat. Nanao blinked and looked up in wonder. Yadōmaru Lisa.

"Ah, what did I say about a dues ex machina?" came a voice by Nanao's ear. She turned to see her captain looking down at her, his face, as ever, wearing an enigmatic smile. Nanao had to hold herself back from throwing her arms around him. He seemed to read the relief in her eyes, and his own sparkled back at her mischievously.

"Get her out of here!" Lisa screamed at them. Kyōraku glanced up at her and nodded. He then grabbed Nanao's arm and began to leave. They were suddenly jerked out of his shunpō by a blast shooting towards them. Kyōraku barely had time to throw Nanao behind him and lift his blade to deflect the cero blast. Nanao swallowed hard as she saw Stark appear in their path. His appearance had changed slightly and he now wielded guns instead of the sword with which he had stabbed her.

"You were not thinking of leaving quite so soon, were you, Captain?"

"Maa, you seemed to be having such fun playing with Ukitake, I thought I'd leave you be!" He glanced over at Ukitake, who nodded and rushed to stand between Kyōraku and Stark.

"I'll cover you. Get out of here now!"

Kyōraku grabbed Nanao's arm again.

"Where are we going?" she cried as he set off again.

"Away!" came the reply. "And fast!"

Nanao had only once shunpōed at this speed, and similarly that had been to escape Yamamoto. Oddly enough, the thought that came to mind in the midst of all this was how extraordinarily poor her performance review was going to be this year.

By the time they finally came to rest, Kyōraku was panting. He dropped her arm to clutch his side and staggered away to collapse on a dark wooden floor. Nanao glanced around her. They were in a square wooden room. The wood had clearly aged and darkened, and but rather than gleaming from polish and care, it was dull and splintering. However, it had been well built, and only a few chinks of light appeared through cracks in the walls and ceiling. To her right, she saw a long wooden table and niches that, in the building's more glorious past, would have held painted and bronze sculptures. She turned to face her captain and crossed her arms.

"You know, Kyōraku-taichō, the last time we took refuge in a temple I had to deal with your royal nephew trying to feel me up."

He laughed sharply at the memory. "Well, if you need anyone to step in in his absence, I'm certainly open to the job."

"I assure you, recreating the experience is hardly necessary," she replied in a dry tone and looked around her.

"Where are we?"

"I don't know what it goes by now, but it used to be called Kaion-ji, or Temple of the Mysterious Sound."

"Appropriately ominous. Where is that located?"

"Northeastern Japan in a suitably remote mountain setting."

"What are we doing here, Taichō?"

He thought for a moment. "Saving your life, but you have other plans in mind…"

She brushed his flirtatious comments aside and went over to sit down at the base of the altar.

"I can't keep running away from him."

"Oh, I fully agree. But until you get over this unfortunate habit of yours of flinching everytime Yamaji flexes his muscles a bit, I don't think we have many other options."

"He could have incinerated me," Nanao said as she rested her forehead in her palm.

"Eh," Kyōraku shrugged, "I don't know if it would have been _that_ bad. But in case he had, maybe you shouldn't be complaining about my coming to rescue you. Of course, I'd been trying for the past twenty minutes or so to do just that, but good ole Stark stood in my way. Of course, I was sort of distracted by thinking of all the possible reasons why it was that I had felt slight traces of my Nanao-chan leaving Soul Society and, of all things, going to visit our old comrade Sōsuke."

She looked over at him. There was, of course, an underlying question beneath his flippancy. He had every right to be curious and a bit suspicious. She hardly knew what to tell him.

"I didn't mean to. I ventured too far forward to witness the two broken pillars being fixed, and-"

"There were no broken pillars," he interrupted with a bewildered look.

She stood up and walked huffily towards the other end of the room. "I am _not_ having this conversation with you again!" she declared more to herself than to him.

"We never had it to begin with!" he retorted, spreading his hands open to express his confusion.

She chuckled to herself. "I'll tell you later."

"Yes… please see that you do," he replied with a slow, heavy nod.

"Shouldn't you be in battle, rather than passing it off to Ukitake-taichō?"

"Well, _should_… that's all a matter of opinion." He scratched his chin and shifted back against the wall behind him. "To me, I _should_ be in the eighth division headquarters getting thoroughly drunk. To you, I probably _should_ be signing that pile of paperwork I hid under the eighth's foundation last spring."

"You _what_?"

"Huh, didn't find that one yet?"

"Taichō, I-" she paused and sighed deeply. "I suppose it doesn't really matter." Nanao walked over and sat beside him, resting her back and head against the wooden wall. He swiveled his head to look at her profile.

"You look stressed, Nanao-chan."

"It's been a busy few days."

"Care to tell me about it?"

"No idea where to begin. Too much to talk about."

"Well then let's leave it for later. It's rather pleasant just sitting with you again."

She looked over at him and smiled wearily.

"I've missed you too, Taichō."

He reached around and pulled her into his arms. She rested with her head against his chest, listened to his heart pound, and felt the most comforted that she had been in the past several days. It was rather surreal to think that elsewhere in this country a fierce battle for supremacy, one that would have serious repercussions for both this world and theirs, was going on and yet they quietly sat side-by-side in an abandoned temple. With his arms around her, with his breath lightly blowing across her hair, with his scent filling her nostrils, Nanao wondered how she could have possibly confused Aizen's replica with him. In its barest details, it had been a good copy. However, it completely lacked the _presence_ that was Kyōraku Shunsui. No one else could possibly be so alive. And, looking back, Nanao realized that this was the missing piece that had clued her into Aizen's deception. All the people in the illusion around her had similarly lacked that sense of being. There was no depth, no spirit to them. And just maybe she'd finally found a weak point with Aizen's hypnosis. It was a theory that required additional exploration to be sure.

"What do we do from here?" she asked, half expecting a flippant remark. Instead, he took her question at face value and sighed.

"At some point we'll have to go our ways – me back to battle and you to Soul Society. Stark's trying to lure my bankai out but, as you probably know, that could be a bit, shall we say, complicated," he said, mouthing the words as if their very taste was bad. "By the way, you have excellent timing. Your presence gave me the excuse I needed to get out of there."

Nanao didn't reply. She knew that this lighthearted mention of her unexpected arrival was once again her captain's way of inviting her to explain her presence. She still wasn't sure where to begin. It sounded so unlikely – pillars that only those left in Soul Society had noticed breaking? Aizen utilizing his powers of illusion in such a way that she would happen fall directly into his fiery prison and not even realize it until it was too late? It sounded suspect even to Nanao. And say, she stayed silent. Kyōraku waited.

"He's insidious," she finally said.

Kyōraku shifted but said nothing.

"Everything he said… it was so perfect. It was everything that I could have ever wanted to hear. He addressed nearly every concern or problem I ever had. And he offered to let me have a hand in helping to reshape Soul Society along my ideals. To put me at my ease and make me open to hearing him out, he even promised not to harm me no matter what my decision. And he was true to his word. Once I rejected him, he did not lay a hand on me – he just make it possible for my comrades to do it for him." She shuddered at the memory. Kyōraku was still.

"You turned him down?"

"It was too perfect, that's how I knew it wasn't true. Oh, he wasn't lying; like I said, he stood by his word and didn't hurt me when he didn't get the answer he was after. But with someone like him, the most beautiful-sounding truth will have an ugly reality lurking beneath the pretty surface. The disillusion I would have experienced if I ever teamed up with him would be far worse than anything I disliked about the shinigami. I don't know how I'd live with the realization that my betrayal had been for nothing – I don't think I could have. I wonder if that is how it will be for Tōsen," she mused. Kyōraku was still frozen. She looked up at his face.

"What's wrong?" she asked with a frown. He looked down and laughed shakily.

"Nothing, I'm just relieved."

Her brow creased and her frown deepened as she continued looking at him. He looked away, disentangled himself form her and stood up.

"You… you really did think that I might become a traitor," she said slowly as she too rose and watched him walk across the room.

"No, Nanao-chan, I never thought you'd betray us," he replied a little too easily.

"Maybe not directly but… does this have to do with Morrigan?"

He paused and gave her a sideways glance. That was all the confirmation she needed. She straightened her back and crossed her arms.

"I can understand keeping a few secrets to protect Baba, but I think it's time you explained a few things to me."

This time he outright stared at her.

"Yare, yare, you _have_ had a busy few days," he mused quietly.

"You have no idea," she replied flatly. "How did Baba regain her powers after she neglected to make the transfer? Where did they come from?" she asked directly.

He slicked a hand over his hair and let out a large breath.

"I leave you for just a few days…"

"Taichō! Did _you_ give her some of your powers?" she pressed.

"Is that what you think?" he asked in a low tone.

"It's Aizen's suggestion, but it does make a little too much sense. I've come to know my power a little more intimately over the past few days, in part with Baba's help."

His head jerked around to look at her.

"You shifted places?"

"Yes. And I can see now how neglecting to do so could strip a person of all her powers, if not kill her. _How did Hashida Mitsuko keep hers_? Did you give her a portion of yours when she lost Morrigan? Is that what she's been paying you back for?"

He sighed deeply and looked at Nanao for a long minute.

"You've changed, Nanao-chan. Not in a bad way, but the change is there. It's a little sad for me to see how you've gone through this important step without me. But then… I'm sure that was necessary," he reflected with a slightly disappointed air.

Before Nanao could pressure him to answer her question, he straightened his back and walked towards her.

"Well, I suppose if you're going to wield such a mighty tripartite power, you should be aware of what I know about her. First of all, the last person to have Morrigan's power, Hashida Mitsuko, and my nurse Baba are not actually the same people."


	27. Chapter 27

**Well, that was a bit of a lapse. This was a really hard chapter to write. I started soon after submitting the last on, but this is one of the most important chapters and even though I'd been working up to it for a while, it took a bit of consideration to figure out what angle I wanted to take and where I wanted to go with it. Plus I had to review what I've already written to make sure it melds the way I thought it did (and since it's turned into a very long story, that can take a while!). I also had to rewrite certain parts several times in order to try to get the meaning clear. I hope you'll like it! Sorry for making you wait, but hopefully you'll find it well worth the weeks and months! As ever, I love to hear what you think.**

Chapter 27: The Triad

Whatever Nanao had been expecting to hear from her captain, it was not this.

"What?" was all she could manage to breathe in reply.

"Hashida Mitsuko was a member of the imperial guard. When she refused to transition into the third, lesser, power of Morrigan, it set the cycle off-balance," Kyōraku explained calmly as he watched her facial expressions.

"Yes, Baba and Morrigan told me about that. Somehow she lived, though," she argued. He looked at her for a moment then rubbed his chin and replied.

"Well, from my understanding of things, no, she didn't. Mitsuko died, or at least she was in the process of dying. Morrigan had already chosen you as their next host, but they weren't ready to move on yet. You hadn't even been born in the real world, let alone come to Soul Society. Mitsuko upset the cycle. If she died, either the sisters would have to choose a new person, or they would be dangerously out of balance. Considering which of the three sisters was next due to be the main power, it was too precarious to let her be free without a human counterpart. For whatever reason, though, they could not choose another human host. They were trapped and in trouble."

Nanao gaped at him then clamped her mouth sharply and turned away. She walked over to a wall and shoved the window panel open. She felt Kyōraku's eyes on her as she crossed the room, but she ignored him as she breathed in the clean, cool forest air. She clamped her arms tightly in front of her. He continued.

"According to what I was told later and then managed to piece together myself, Mitsuko's husband knew what was happening. He knew of a way that the power could be contained until the next chosen host appeared. It would require a fair amount of deception on his part, but while he was willing to undertake it, he couldn't do it alone. Mitsuko's husband and my father were friends, and I remember him being almost like an uncle to me as I grew up. Under the yoke of that friendship, he asked my father for a significant favor. He wanted Mitsuko to switch places with her corresponding power. She would take the place of one of the three sisters and her power would live on in Mitsuko's stead until the next person to take control of Morrigan arrived. However, the personified zampakutō would need a place to live while under the guise of being Hashida Mitsuda. And, well, perhaps an ancient goddess could succeed with reigning in the Kyōraku children where nursemaids had failed." At this point he was standing directly behind Nanao. She shivered at his nearness but also felt the desire to hit him or run away. Once again – he knew more about her than she did. Once again – she was discovering more, something new that she was the last to learn about. She wanted to scream or to cry or to crumple against him or to beat out her frustrations against him. Instead, she stood stonily where she was and looked out the window. He went on.

"My father was divided. It was risky, and it meant introducing an unstable zampakutō into his family life. However, he understood the difficulty of the situation. Mitsuko was dying and the switch had to take place as soon as possible. He agreed. In this way, the power was kept in stasis. The change had not taken place, and Mitsuko was kept alive, if powerless, in a spiritual form. All that they were waiting for was for the next heir, you, to come along. The story you heard from Aizen about Mitsuko losing her powers and becoming my nursemaid was all made up in expectation that eventually someone would come along with Morrigan's powers. Since two people cannot wield the same zampakutō, and since as far as anyone would know Mitsuko would still be alive as my nurse, we had to say that she survived the refusal to transfer but had lost her powers. Otherwise, it would raise too many questions once you started to discover your powers if we could not explain why Mitsuko was still alive. And it is partially true – Mitsuko did refuse to transfer to the third position and she did lose her powers, but while most people are under the impression that she became my Baba, the truth is that they are two different women. This is why Baba is able to use kidō, even though she's been told in the strictest of terms not to."

"Are you saying that _Baba_ is part of Morrigan's power?" Nanao demanded incredulously. She curled her hand into a fist. She could feel her captain's body heat against her back, but she stayed as she was. "That doesn't make any sense! And who is this 'dangerous' third power? There can't be three Morrigan sisters when the human host is supposed to be one of those three; there can only be two!" she argued. She felt Kyōraku's eyes looking calmly down at her for several minutes before he spoke again.

"We are in an unexpected and unusual situation here, my Nanao-chan, in that I have read up on something you have not," he said softly as his hand lightly caressed her hair. She stiffened and inhaled sharply in disapproval. He let his hand drop with a sigh and continued.

"There are a multitude of Morrigan stories, most of them indicating that either Morrigan is one of three sisters or that she is composed of three sisters. The latter is the case here. Morrigan is not an individual being, but rather a composite. The three women collectively make up Morrigan and her powers. In the form of a zampakutō, one of the three sisters aligns herself with the human host. With each new human host, a new sister rises to the position of power. The previous one, the one connected to Hashida Mitsuko, is generally known in history and myth as Badh."

Nanao waited for him to continue, but he seemed to be done for the moment. She felt his eyes boring down on the back of her head. What was she waiting for? What was he expecting? There was apparently a clear connection here that she was missing. Was the name important? What was he expecting her to figure out? Finally, realization came with a gasp. She whirled around to look up at him for confirmation, her eyes wide and disbelieving. It was so simple – and it had been there all along. The central clue came down to basic linguistics.

"Badh... is 'Baba' in Japanese, isn't it?"

'Badh' in its original Irish would be pronounced somewhere between 'Bab' and 'Bav.' In Japanese, a 'v' was generally transliterated to a 'b' sound anyway. And, with the exception of 'n,' Japanese words could not end in consonants. Therefore, 'Badh' in Japanese would likely sound like 'Babu' or 'Baba.' Baba was a common colloquial term for an older woman, and, given her captain's tendency to refer to almost everyone in the most informal way possible, it seemed perfectly natural that Kyōraku-taichō would call his former nurse "Baba." Upon further refelction, though, Nanao recalled that his brother and mother had referred to her this way as well.

Nanao's head went back and hit the edge of the window frame with a thunk. "Baba" wasn't her title – it was her name. Badh was the name of one of the three Celtic goddesses associated with Morrigan. Worse yet, Kyōraku was wrong. This _was_ something Nanao had read about; she just hadn't ever thought to make the connection. She turned her head away. She could feel her captain's eyes on her, full of compassion, concern, and a touch of something that struck her as being painfully akin to pity. With one realization came others, and the pieces started to assemble, only Nanao could see already that she didn't like the way they were arranging themselves.

"Where is Hashida Mitsuko now?" she breathed tensely.

"I imagine you've met her already. In fact, I'm sure you know her quite well at this point," came the gentle reply.

Nanao clenched her eyes shut and held her breath. It was as she'd started to suspect. The pony-tailed, sarcastic figure Nanao had always thought to be Morrigan was in fact not her power at all. Instead, it was Nanao's sempai, her predecessor. No wonder she had been so upset to have to confess to the fact that she was and yet was not Morrigan and that the bird, Macha, was the primary power. Mitsuko was little more than a placeholder – a perch for the real Morrigan sisters. And Nanao hadn't so much as suspected.

"And Macha is my corresponding power?" she asked lightly. She felt the need to press through and confirm as much information as possible, but her insides felt like they were decaying. Unfortunately, at this question too she felt Kyōraku's sorrowful eyes on her.

"That's beyond my knowledge. However, my understanding is that Macha was not the next in line. There's another sister between Macha and Badh," he said slowly.

"Anan," Nanao breathed, her eyes and body clenched tightly. He didn't say anything, but his silence seemed to confirm her statement. That's what Macha had been alluding to. 'Anan' was not a childish mistake for 'Nanao,' it was the name of her power. Nanao did not doubt that if she were to do even a cursory bit of research, she would find that there was a goddess named Anan connected to Morrigan.

Nanao turned and opened her eyes to see her captain looking down on her with a face full of concern. Despite the annoyance she felt that once again she had to face her own ignorance and that once again it was her captain who was pointing it out to her, once she saw his wretched-looking face, she could not help but smile weakly at him.

"Do you think that's why my parents named me Nanao, then? Do you think they somehow knew about Anan and chose something similar?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I don't know. But I suppose it could be possible."

"Why haven't I met her yet?"

"Anan? That's something I can't answer. You know who you'll have to ask for that one."

Nanao turned her face away from his. "Of course." She looked into empty space for a moment until finally the childlike Macha appeared. This time it was she who appeared to be holding the crow, and this time the crow was not wearing the mask. Yes, the switch had fully taken place – Macha was in the position of the child, Hashida Mitsuko was the old lady and, outside of the Morrigan realm, the crow. Anan was somewhere in Nanao, with Nanao, and as of yet unaccounted for.

"Hello," Macha said simply, her large gray-blue eyes blinking up at them.

"Good afternoon," Kyōraku replied, turning towards her. "You must be Macha. I hope I am saying that correctly," he said with a kindly smile. Nanao noted with interest that he pronounced the name 'Ma-ha.'

She nodded. "That is correct enough. I told her it was 'Ma-cha' so she'd know how to spell it correctly," the girl replied as she pointed at Nanao. She then crinkled her nose. "But she said it reminded her of a tea she hated. I thought that was very rude. It's not a good idea to make me upset."

Nanao watched as Kyōraku's eyes darted up to glance at the Hollow mask perched atop Macha's head. "I'd say probably not."

"Oh Shunsui, flirting with a mere child? You really have grown in all things but maturity. You're still so much like the little boy I remember."

Kyōraku grinned at the crow and knelt down in front Macha and Mitsuko.

"Mitsuko-ba-chan, and how are you?"

"Feeling rather fowl, actually," came the sly reply. Nanao thought she could almost see the crow smiling.

"I'll admit this is a different form since the last time I saw you," he said in response. "Are you adjusting well?"

"Somewhat." The crow accustomed her wings and then looked directly at Nanao. "It's a change I hope not to have to grow too accustomed to."

"I'm not really sure what you want me to do about it. I haven't even really become used to this middle role I'm in now. I'm probably not going to be relieving you of your post for some time to come," Nanao said lightly from her position against the wall.

"That is not what I was referring to," Mitsuko replied in a steely tone. "Now that you understand a little more about our situation, you know that I am not one of the original goddesses. Since you have finally moved to a place where you can take full command of your powers, it is time for Badh and I to change places."

"You'll die, though, won't you?" Nanao asked, her brow creasing slightly.

"Probably. At this point I think I'd welcome the change."

"So that means I'll have Baba making degradading remarks instead of you? Won't this be pleasant change?" Nanao turned around to look outside the window again.

"It's how it is supposed to be," came the harsh reply. Nanao stayed silent.

"Ba-chan, Nanao's wondering about Anan," Kyōraku interjected into the uncomfortable silence.

"She is Anan," Macha piped up as she pointed to Nanao.

"My corresponding power? Yes, we figured that one out. Why haven't I met her?" Nanao glanced at the pair over her shoulder. They did not respond for a while. As the seconds ticked by, she could feel them thinking. Even her captain seemed to grow a little tense in the quiet. Finally Mitsuko spoke again, slowly and hesitantly.

"Everything is different with you, Nanao. I am here with you to give you advice and guidance, but I am essentially powerless. Macha was trapped in the bird form for a long time, also essentially powerless. As for Badh, she was separated and unable to lend you her power. Therefore, from the very beginning, whatever power you had has come from Anan."

"Very well, then, where is she?" Nanao asked impatiently. "Why does calling forth my zampakutō only result in two figures who tell me they have no power whatsoever? What happened when I tried to call my bankai?" She heard her captain grunt involuntarily at the last remark but she ignored him. There was some secret shared by Mitsuko and Macha. Both seemed unwilling to say what it was, although it loomed over them. Nanao was thoroughly sick of secrets, especially from her own corresponding power.

"What aren't you telling me?" she demanded. "If you want me to figure it out, well, I'm sorry, but the knowledge of Anan's existence is still a bit too fresh for me to be able to deduce whatever is behind this mysterious silence! There is something I need to know and you're not telling me!"

The crow and the child exchanged glances then looked back at her.

"I told you. You're Anan," Macha said simply. Nanao stared uncomprehending at the child. For some reason, she kept repeating something Nanao already knew. Yes, she was Anan's corresponding person, just like Baba had paired with Mitsuko and sometime before that Macha had paired with some unknown woman. Nanao had already grasped this idea. So where was Anan?

"Everything's different with you," Mitsuko offered simply.

Nanao looked at them for a long moment and then stiffened sharply. She felt a chill come over her.

"Anan is…"

"You." Macha and Mitsuko said together.

"She's not just my power…" Nanao said slowly. There was another silence before Mitsuko finally spoke.

"When I refused to move on, it wasn't because I did not _want_ to take the third role and its lesser power. It's because it meant that Anan would be in the middle position, which as you know is the most powerful. I didn't think I was strong enough to control her with only Badh's help. I'm ashamed to admit it, but for all my strength and abilities, I was afraid and intimidated by Anan. She is the oldest of the sisters – the oldest, the most powerful, and the most mysterious. On her own, she can be generous, but when paired with the other sisters of war, she can be fierce. She can predict deaths in battle, kill individuals at will. I ignored her for the most part. In fact, I didn't work with Macha and Anan at all if I could help it. Badh was so strong that I relied on her entirely, and as a result, I finally realized that if I transitioned to the third role at that point then I would have nearly no command over the Macha and Anan. Maybe you haven't noticed, but I have tried to keep you from making the same mistake. Why do you think I've tried to speak with you so much? Why do you think I arranged for you to see both Macha and me even before the switch? Why do you think Badh has kept such an eye on you, even arranging for Shunsui to take you under his wing?"

"She had nothing to do with that," Kyōraku objected. Macha and Mitsuko turned to him.

"Of course she did," Mitsuko scoffed. "Once she knew Nanao was on the brink of graduating from the academy, and at such a young and tender age, she made a point to bring up memories of your childhood: your loneliness, your lack of guidance, your want of compassion and understanding. She primed you to take on the lonely and overly principled little girl you saw. You thought it was complete coincidence when it turned out that she had inherited Morrigan as a zampakutō, but there was no coincidence whatsoever. Nanao's whole life has been watched over from the start."

"Enough! What about Anan?" Nanao asked. They turned back to her. Mitsuko cleared her throat.

"I need to finish telling you the story first. Otherwise you won't understand. I was afraid of what would happen when I transitioned to the weaker stage. Anan was unpredictable at best, and even Macha could not be left without someone strong in command to keep her Hollow powers in line. Remember, the wielder determines the use of Morrigan's powers, but with me in a weaker position and without the full allegiance of the three sisters, Anan and Macha were unstable. I convinced them that we needed to wait for the next person before I could move on. My successor would be the one who would be aligned with Anan the same way I was with Badh and would hopefully be able to maintain equanimity. Luckily Anan and Macha agreed with me that they did not want the unavoidable chaos either, and we determined that we would wait for you. However, we needed to make significant changes to the standard way of things to prepare for you. If I neglected to move on but remained the human counterpart, the sisters would rend away from me and find someone else, anyone else. These powers are simply too old and too important to waywardly attach on to someone who did not have the self-command and diligence to wield such an important zampakutō as Morrigan. Therefore, Badh and I switched places – I did not die, and so Morrigan did not move on to someone else, but neither did I have to move to the third position. Everything was off balance and yet it was kept perfectly in place.

"Meanwhile, as Badh went to stay with Shunsui's family, Macha, Anan and I had to go somewhere. We acted independently, carrying out our separate roles as distinct goddesses, but we were also tied to this triad form. Our meeting place was the forest with the fountain. We waited and we watched. Shunsui is mistaken – we did not know who the successor would be, but we did once we saw you. You had the self-discipline and restraint needed to not only keep Anan in check but also to work with and command all three of the Morrigan sisters. To make sure that Anan would stay restrained, we convinced her to try something different. She would merge with you from your moment of death. In life, you were completely average, but once you came to Soul Society, you shared space with one of the most powerful goddesses of war and destruction but also plenty and bounty. This is why you have never encountered Anan. She is you. Without her, you would have no spiritual abilities whatsoever. With her, you have the potential to be among the greatest shinigami Seireitei has ever known."


	28. Chapter 28

**Well... two years is a bit of a wait between updates, I'll admit. This story was always at the back of my mind, and some of the recent comments really pushed me into realizing that I needed to discover what was happening in the Bleach world again. I stopped working on this story when licensing changed and I couldn't find updates anymore. The other day I looked and found that the manga chapters were back. It didn't take long to get caught up (although, seriously, 2 years and no Nanao?). Thanks to everyone for still reading and asking for more. It was really a delight to return to this story and refresh it in my mind; I'd actually forgotten how it went, so it was great fun to reread it and remember what I had in mind. Will it turn out now as it would have if I hadn't stopped working on it? Probably not... but that's not necessarily a bad thing! **

**I'm a bit rusty, but I hope this will end up being worth the wait!**

Chapter 28: Acceptance

Nanao remained silent for several moments as she pondered over what she had just been told. Behind her, her captain, Macha, and Hashida Mitsuko waited breathlessly for her reaction. And so, Nanao discovered to her surprise, did she. Given the past few days with one revelation coming after another, it would not be surprising for this last piece of information to send her over the edge into either an angered fury or a mental collapse. Strangely, though, the anxiety she'd been experiencing ever since Morrigan resurfaced seemed to go away. There was no emotional outburst, no despair of learning about her true self, no denial, no fear. The only feeling she could identify was a slight sense of sad resignation.

"So," she finally said in a distant voice, "I haven't actually been Nanao Ise in a long time."

"Technically, no. Not solely at any rate. Not since you died," Mitsuko replied.

Kyōraku placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's just a name."

"It's an identity, Taichō," she corrected quietly. "To me, Anan is just a name. I don't recognize it at all when I hear it, at least not the way I recognize Nanao. But I know what they said is true. I am Anan and Nanao together."

"To limit her powers, Anan agreed to be a dormant presence. She stifled her memories and merged her soul with an incoming young girl's."

Nanao shook her head. "You mean _I_ did all those things; not 'her.'"

"That's correct," Mitsuko stated with an approving nod. "As a result, you remember your life on earth and you remember certain features of your past life. You are still Nanao Ise, but you're not only her. Most of your personality and spirit are from Anan."

Nanao did not respond. She could feel her captain's nervous energy behind her, but she did not react.

"Are you all right with this, Nanao-chan?" he asked in the low tone she knew so well.

"Strangely, yes. It all sounds so foreign and strange, but at the same time it's like a door I never knew existed is opening. I don't know how to describe it. It's as if… as if I were learning that I have the opposite of multiple personalities. I am _made_ of two different people, but they've been fused together to create one being. And yes, strangely, I am perfect all right with this. In fact," she continued with a laugh, "I'm happy… and I don't know why." She turned to give them all a confused smile.

"Why can I accept this so easily when I fought everything else?"

Macha shrugged. "Probably because this is the final piece that makes everything else make sense. Without this knowledge, everything you have gone through in the past few days is beyond bizarre. And now it's not… or, at least, less so. But if everything you recently encountered hadn't happened, you probably could not have accepted what we have just told you."

She nodded and turned back to look out the window. She felt a strange sense of peace and well-being, one she could not remember feeling for her entire life.

"Nanao-chan, this changes nothing," Kyōraku murmured in her ear.

"Kyōraku-taichō, I am an ancient Celtic war goddess linked with two other Celtic war goddesses. Do you really not think that this might not change things a little?" she chuckled.

"Nope," he responded as he playfully rubbed his cheek against her forehead. "I didn't know the full nature of your relationship with Morrigan, and I admit the Anan thing has thrown me for a bit of a loop, but, to me, you are whom you have always been."

"Without even realizing it, Shunsui has played a familiar role with you, actually," Mitsuko interjected with an amused grin. "That's probably why you feel so much more comfortable with him than with others."

"Really?" he smiled. "Do tell!"

"In ancient Ireland, Anan had such a fearsome and somewhat ruthless reputation that the locals used to try to placate her by calling her 'Gentle Anan.' It's sort of similar to your referring to her as Nanao-chan and trying to pay her compliments when she's riled up."

Nanao clamped a hand over Kyōraku's mouth to block his proclamation of delight. "Do not encourage him."

Mitsuko tilted her head. "It's true."

Nanao stood at the window watching the forest in the rain for a long moment, relishing the feeling of at last knowing and accepting who she was. The feeling of her captain's encircling her shoulders and his chin resting atop her head only contributed to the feeling of contentment.

"So, what do we do now?" she asked at last.

"We must restore Badh to her rightful place," Macha responded.

"Already?"

Mitsuko bowed her head. "As I said, I'm a placeholder. I don't actually have any powers of my own, and while your unique abilities are innate within you as Anan, your full strength comes from the combined power of the three sisters. Now that you are in the key position, it's actually a bit uncomfortable for me to be here."

Kyōraku frowned. "Does this mean that I will never see Baba again?"

"It might. However, now that she is more comfortable with us, Nanao can bring us forward. Badh will be in the position of the raven, but if you know of her spirit you will be able to hear her speaking, as you can with me."

"How do we make the switch?" Nanao asked.

"It could happen at any time. It will probably be relatively simple. However, for purely selfish reasons I would like to ask that you refrain from initiating the transfer until I have had the chance to say goodbye to someone. I do not know when I will have the opportunity to see him, but, if we can wait, I would greatly appreciate it."

Such humble talk coming from a being that Nanao generally associated with sarcasm and disdain surprised her. Now, in this moment, with her past and her present finally lying clearly before her, Nanao realized that this power she'd always had was dearer to her than she ever knew. This was not some separate inner demon she had to quell or hide; it was her very essence.

"I'll do my best to wait for your signal," she promised. "If the situation calls for it, though, we may not be able to wait." Mitsuko nodded in appreciation.

"Yare, yare," Kyōraku said lightly as he turned Nanao around to face him. "Just listen to you. You _have_ changed Nanao-chan. I suppose you won't be needing your ole Shun-kun around to protect you anymore." She looked up into his sad eyes.

"No. I don't." She waited a beat before continuing. "But I know you'll be there just the same."

"What now?" he asked towards Macha and Mitsuko. "Should I pull her into battle? Is she supposed to lead the charge against Aizen?"

Nanao shook her head. "No, that isn't what my power is. It's much more subtle than that, isn't it?" she asked the goddesses.

"The power of yin," Macha responded. Nanao nodded.

"I thought as much. I think I finally understand. Mine is a dark power," she explained to her captain. "Not in that it's evil, but rather that it truly is something steeped in physical darkness. Before, I couldn't comprehend the distinction and I was frightened of it for a long time. I was terrified of what it meant I was capable of. But I understand now. It's a strong feminine power, and it thrives on features of yin – darkness, valleys, water… it's subtle. It's not meant to shine in the middle of battle. Mine isn't a power to openly display before others. I'm meant to move in shadows and operate in secrecy. After all, look at my zampakutō: it's an assasin's weapon. I realize now that it's not simply that I am most comfortable in a supporting role in the sidelines – that's where I belong."

"Suits me. You know I've always had a fondness for the shade."

She smiled and shook her head. "Not this time. You belong in the heart of battle. You may not like it, but it suits you."

Kyōraku groaned and rested his forhead against hers. "Are you trying to tell me I'm supposed to go back and do my duty?"

"You can't just whisk me off whenever the going gets tough."

"I would like to bring up the point that Yama-ji was attempting to incinerate you."

"Shunsui," Mitsuko chided.

"Well it appeared that way!"

"You know very well he would never do that. He was just testing to see where she was at."

"And clearly she wasn't ready yet."

"And now she is."

Kyōraku gazed at the crow's beady eyes for a long moment.

"She's shifted to the power position, Shunsui. She knows who she is and has embraced her power. The change has happened; the only one left to accept it is you."

He sighed and turned back to Nanao.

"It had to happen," Mitsuko added.

"I know it did. I know it was necessary. Sometimes I can't help but look at you and still see the little girl with the giant book." His eyes looked whistfully down at Nanao. "I always knew there was a powerful goddess inside of you; I just didn't know how right I was!"

Nanao furrowed her brow. Despite his proximity, her captain had never felt further away.

"I will miss you, Nanao-chan," he said as he lightly stroked the outline of her face. She caught his hand.

"I thought you said nothing changed."

"And then you corrected me to point out that _you_ changed."

Nanao felt as if a dead weight had settled in her stomach. "But I'm still me. Nanao, Anan, Morrigan… none of it matters. In essence, I am the same."

"But a more self-assured version of yourself. Someone who can stand on her own without needing anyone else. You've become the person I always knew you would be. As I came to care for you, I had hoped to delay the transformation, break through your walls a little. But now, it's happened anyway. And in front of me is a strong, self-reliant fukutaichō. My little Nanao-chan is gone."

He tilted his hat to cover his face and turned away. Nanao felt a sense of panic rise inside her.

"Is that what you think? Now that I finally feel as if I at last know who and what I am, suddenly I do not need friendship and support? Because I feel a sense of confidence in myself for the first time in my life, you decide to discard me? What, you only want weak-willed women who must rely on you? Strength and self-determination are turnoffs, is that it?"

"Yare yare, Nanao-chan," he said quietly, "I wouldn't expect you to understand."

"Well, I _don't_ understand! No, I don't feel like I need to rely on your strength anymore, but there is still much I can learn from your experience and abilities. I don't understand at all what you think that I am now, but whether I _need_ others or not, I still _want_ them there. I still want _you_, Taichō."

Kyōraku remained with his back to her and his head bent down. As she watched, Nanao thought she could see his shoulders quivering. Was he… crying? No, that didn't seem right. Kyōraku-taichō only cried over small things like discovering the last of his sake was missing. This was too important, even to him. But then… what else could it be?

With a flash of intuition, Nanao circled around to see him throw his head back in full laughter. Her eyes flew open in shock as he wrapped his arms around her. She thought she could vaguely hear Mitsuko sigh.

"Something you clearly have not learned yet, Nanao," the crow said in a clipped tone, "Shunsui will never miss an opportunity to manipulate others to satisfy his own curiosity."

"Ma-manipulate? What was there to manipulate?" Nanao demanded. She fought through her captain's arms to readjust the glasses he'd knocked astray.

"Nanao-chan, don't you see? I needed to know, but I couldn't be sure," he managed between bursts of laughter. "You've always been so cold and unapproachable. It took me years to start melting you down. And now, finally, you've started to show me a glimpse of the passion that lives inside you. Then, the worst thing possible happens. You've transferred to your second stage, the power stage. The one where, if you truly wanted, you could live completely separate from everyone else: not relying on anyone or anything, even for friendship. You and your books. And, if you wanted, your own squad. In this stage, fully attaining your bankai would be no difficult objective. And that bankai… that bankai, Nanao, is not a merciful thing."

"So, what, the past one hundred years or so have been an attempt to humanize me?" she folded her arms.

"In part. Especially at first. Everyone else saw your potential when they looked at you, but I saw a lost, lonely little girl who was abandoned by the vice-captain she so greatly admired. I wanted to fill that role for you, if I could. And yes, I knew a little of what power lurked in you. I never lost sight of that. Over time, though…"

"Over time, you lost focus," Mitsuko interjected.

"Ba-chan," he wheedled.

"Don't try that with me, Shunsui. You were supposed to shepherd her through this stage ages ago. What he's trying to tell you, Nanao, is he came to care for you too much to let you grow as you needed to. It was selfish, Shunsui. Try to justify it all you want, but you actively worked against her development to keep her in the first stage. You wanted to keep her a child."

"Ba-chan, we're not meant to be fighting machines."

"You're soldiers! You're shinigami!"

"But we're alive too. I wanted Nanao-chan to laugh, to have friends, to have fun."

"_You_ wanted those things! What about what was best for her, for her power, for Soul Society? If she'd matured to the second stage as she was supposed to, this whole situation with Aizen could have been avoided. She could have identified his powers long ago, her own would have been too fearful to oppose. Not only did you keep her in the developing stage, you weakened her resolve."

"I encouraged her to feel, Ba-chan."

"You wanted her to have human-like emotions. With the will of Nanao and the power of Anan, she would have been an incorruptible force of justice. But instead you confused her, and the barriers she set up sealed off Morrigan's influence in her life. Now, she's a woman with foibles and weaknesses like any other woman. She was entrusted to you, Shunsui, but you became too invested. You wanted her to be how you wanted her to be, not how she was supposed to be."

"Yes," he murmured as he gazed down at Nanao. "And of course you know I'd do it again. Besides, don't pretend to be so heartless, Mitsuko ba-chan. Remember, just a moment ago I heard you asking to delay the fulfillment of her powers in order to say good-bye to a certain someone."

"I don't suppose anyone would be interested in my opinion in any of this?" Nanao asked, her arms still folded. They waited. Nanao looked back and forth between Mitsuko and her captain.

"Mitsuko-san, when you were in the imperial guard, did you know Kyōraku-taichō well?"

She cocked her head. "He was still a child, of course, but my husband and I would visit often. Yes, I'd say I knew the boy Shunsui Kyōraku very well."

"In some ways I'm sure he is very different. But, in essence, I imagine he is very much the same as he always was," Nanao stated with a rueful smile. "Thus, that would make him an unlikely choice for what you're suggesting, don't you think?" With Mitsuko in crow form, it was impossible to read her expressions. Even so, Nanao imagined she would have been smiling as well.

"Well…" she finally said, "we had to tell Anan something along those lines or she never would have agreed. Anan hated emotions. She was rather callous, and our compromise was that she would agree to merge herself with a human soul as long as it was one who seemed to possess a sufficiently stoical demeanor. However, I knew that, with Shunsui as a constant companion, no human soul could stay heartless for long. I'm sorry, Shunsui, but it was my idea that you enter the academy. I knew even then you would be trained to become a captain. And, eventually, I knew you would be entrusted in raising the next person to bear the Morrigan zampakutō, whomever she might be. Under anyone else's guidance, Anan's influence would be too strong."

Kyōraku let out a sharp breath. "What? Well then what was all of this before? And why have Baba give me such extreme instructions to keep her in that insensitive state?"

"I know how much you hate doing anything you're supposed to. I was trying to spare you the embarrassment of finding out you'd acted exactly as I'd hoped you would, but Nanao is simply too clever."

He simply grinned with delight and looked down at Nanao. "I'll say," he agreed. Nanao locked eyes with him and smiled back. Unfortunately, the moment couldn't last.

"The battle's getting worse," Macha said, her eyes looked unfocused into the far distance.

"You're needed, Captain," Nanao said regretfully as she pulled away.

"Ah, but I'm wanted here, and that's where I'd much rather stay." He grasped Nanao's hands and drew her back.

"Taichō, if we could freeze all time outside of this place, I'd gladly stay here. But we'd both regret learning that any of our comrades died while we were here."

He sighed. "That was a low blow. But yes. What will you do?"

"I think I need to return to Soul Society. I can't help but feel that the battle will transfer to there at some point."

He nodded. "I'll try to see that it does not, but Sōsuke's a clever one. Be careful, Nanao-chan."

She turned to Mitsuko and Macha and held out a hand to them. They disappeared and reabsorbed into her body.

"You too, Captain. After all, you promised me a long talk when all of this is over."

"Sometimes I think talk is overrated," he murmured as he reached down to kiss her.


End file.
